• mateomaui@reddthat.com
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    10 months ago

    That’s one reason it’s so fascinating. I have yet to read of one sovcit effort that ever worked, and they just keep trying like it works every time.

    • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I’m aware of one case. Driver was pulled over in Canada for not using a turn signal. The driver does the sovereign citizen thing and gets arrested. He goes to court saying the officer didn’t have the authority to pull him over because of all the sovereign citizen nonsense.

      The judge rules in his favor because, by a coincidence, he was right, but for the wrong reasons. Under the canadian highway code failing to signal alone is insufficient cause to pull someone over. The officer in fact did not have the authority to pull him over.

      Source: Paraphrasing my memory of a video from Leonard French several years ago.

        • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Most of the judge’s opinion was a diatribe about sovereign citizens being wrong, including the fact that none of his arguments even claimed to be applicable to Canadian law.

      • mateomaui@reddthat.com
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        10 months ago

        That makes sense, which is why it’s even more baffling for me, knowing a number of seemingly reasonably intelligent people without legal troubles, who think you can sovcit your way out of paying taxes. (Which, of course, creates legal troubles.)

    • SynAcker@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I saw one “win”. They tried presenting that their international drivers license allowed them to drive as well as their strange passport. The DA essentially dismissed the case because the cost of trying the guy was more that the cost of fines and other stuff the county would get out of it. This was in Judge Middleton’s court in South West Michigan.

      • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I have no evidence to back this up, but I feel like there have to be a lot of cops that say “fuck no, I’m not dealing with this today” and just tell the sov-cits to get lost.

      • mateomaui@reddthat.com
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        10 months ago

        Huh, never heard of a foreigner trying sovcit tactics in a US court. It’s funny how so many of these cases seem to rely on “if you can’t beat em, confuse em.” I guess congrats to that guy. I’m curious to know more about the strange passport.

        • SynAcker@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Lol… This wasn’t a foreigner. This was a guy that relinquished their drivers license, social security number and US citizenship. He was pulled over and charged with no drivers license and providing false documents. I think the video of his case was deleted since the courts aren’t obligated to keep them long term.

          • mateomaui@reddthat.com
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            10 months ago

            Oh, that’s even weirder. So he relinquished all that and then got citizenship for another country? Or had no official citizenship anywhere and was still here? Just made up his own passport? Confused about how he would manage to travel abroad or do anything official like that.

            • grue@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Nah, he probably just “declared” (in the Michael Scott from The Office sense) himself to be a citizen of Madethefuckupistan. Or he doesn’t believe “countries” are real things that exist, or something. You’re vastly underestimating how batshit insane the chucklefucks really are.