The thing is, there are “magic” words that they can “incant” to get more or less of what they want. The legal system is filled with obscure rules of evidence, arcane procedures, hidden precedents, and so on.
Trump is a high-profile defendant with lawyers who are presumably expensive, but he ended up with a bench trial rather than the jury trial he wanted because his lawyers forgot to / didn’t know to request a jury trial. Alina Habba is a lawyer who knows a lot of the “magic incantations”. But, according to lawyers watching the trial, she’s pretty much incompetent. She’s using the wrong legal incantations, or missing the opportunity to use the right ones. But, trial watchers who aren’t lawyers will watch it and not know what it is she’s doing wrong.
Add to that the idea that what the sovereign citizens want seems reasonable to them. Like, why should you need a license if you’re a safe driver? If you’re not a safe driver, then arrest you for that.
Since this idea seems reasonable to them, it makes sense to them that if you can use the right legal incantation, you can get the “fair” result. The underlying premise of the sovereign citizen movement seems to be that you can get a “fair” result at trial if you know the magic words. Fundamentally, that means that they believe in the fairness of the legal system (you just have to know the magic words).
Now, most people know how ridiculous that is. The legal system has never been fair. We’re all subject to laws we never agreed to. Laws are often enforced in unfair ways. We know that it’s not “magic incantations”, but skilled lawyers finding and using loopholes in the laws. And, lobbyists bribing lawmakers to insert loopholes for their rich clients.
But, who are sovereign citizens? They’re almost always white, male, blue-collar, over 50, etc. The system used to be slanted in their favour. So, now, when they’re on a more even footing with other people it all feels so unfair.
The thing is, there are “magic” words that they can “incant” to get more or less of what they want. The legal system is filled with obscure rules of evidence, arcane procedures, hidden precedents, and so on.
Trump is a high-profile defendant with lawyers who are presumably expensive, but he ended up with a bench trial rather than the jury trial he wanted because his lawyers forgot to / didn’t know to request a jury trial. Alina Habba is a lawyer who knows a lot of the “magic incantations”. But, according to lawyers watching the trial, she’s pretty much incompetent. She’s using the wrong legal incantations, or missing the opportunity to use the right ones. But, trial watchers who aren’t lawyers will watch it and not know what it is she’s doing wrong.
Add to that the idea that what the sovereign citizens want seems reasonable to them. Like, why should you need a license if you’re a safe driver? If you’re not a safe driver, then arrest you for that.
Since this idea seems reasonable to them, it makes sense to them that if you can use the right legal incantation, you can get the “fair” result. The underlying premise of the sovereign citizen movement seems to be that you can get a “fair” result at trial if you know the magic words. Fundamentally, that means that they believe in the fairness of the legal system (you just have to know the magic words).
Now, most people know how ridiculous that is. The legal system has never been fair. We’re all subject to laws we never agreed to. Laws are often enforced in unfair ways. We know that it’s not “magic incantations”, but skilled lawyers finding and using loopholes in the laws. And, lobbyists bribing lawmakers to insert loopholes for their rich clients.
But, who are sovereign citizens? They’re almost always white, male, blue-collar, over 50, etc. The system used to be slanted in their favour. So, now, when they’re on a more even footing with other people it all feels so unfair.