REBUTTAL: Do Sovereign Citizens Need a Driver’s License and a License Plate to Drive?
EDITORIAL:
- We don't call ourselves "sovereign citizens". Only a USEFUL IDIOT for socialist oligarchs would give a name to themselves to make it easier for the USEFUL IDIOT who wrote this article to use cancel culture to demonize them. It is a violation of our member agreement to use ANY name to identify ourselves with other than God's name ("I AM") when interacting CIVILLY with any government. See:
SEDM Member Agreement, Form #01.001, Section 3, Item 9
https://sedm.org/Membership/MemberAgreement.pdf - We don't "reject the authority of local, state, and federal law enforcement". The criminal law and the common law are, in fact, the ONLY real "law" because these apply to you whether you consent or not. It is POINTLESS and anti-American to oppose CRIMINAL enforcement.
- Police officers implement the police powers of the state. The police powers implement ONLY the criminal law. It is an ABUSE of the police powers to permit any kind of CIVIL enforcement, including civil fines for CIVIL infractions. Police officers can't lawfully act as revenue collectors with a gun, and to the extent that they do, they are abusing their authority and the police powers that are the origin of it.
- This article naively and falsely conflates and confuses CIVIL enforcement with CRIMINAL enforcement as if the word "law" includes both. CIVIL enforcement is not law, because it acquires the force of law ONLY through our consent in some form. The civil law INSTEAD is a form of "patronage" applicable only the patrons called civil statutory "persons", "citizens", and "residents". See:
4.1 Why Statutory Civil Law is Law for Government and Not Private Persons, Form #05.037
https://sedm.org/Forms/05-MemLaw/StatLawGovt.pdf
4.2 Why Domicile and Becoming a "Taxpayer" Require Your Consent, Form #05.002
https://sedm.org/Forms/05-MemLaw/Domicile.pdf - Driver licensing, registration, and plates are all implemented with CIVIL law, not CRIMINAL law. It's not a criminal misdemeanor or felony to not use these so these aspects of the vehicle code are what one District Attorney admitted to us are "quasi-criminal", which is a code word for CIVIL INFRACTIONS that can acquire the force of law ONLY through consent in some form. Most of the time, that consent is implied SECRETLY and DISHONESTLY, so they don't have to ASK you for it in writing, as documented in:
Hot Issues: Invisible Consent*, SEDM - We wouldn't even have a problem with the vehicle code, a license plate, or having a driver license SO LONG as things unrelated to safe roadways were not BUNDLED with these things, like the requirement to become a "resident", have a Social Security Number, pay child support, or any number of OTHER things governments keep piling ON TOP of getting a license. These things we call "Weaponization of Government", and they constitute unconscionable adhesion contract and monopolistic and oppressive business practices that MUST be stopped before ANY amount of freedom or autonomy is realistically possible. See the follow for what "weaponization of government" means:
SEDM Disclaimer, Section 4.30
If the ability to compel driver licensing originates in OWNERSHIP of the public roadways by the State, and you own yourself, then why can’t YOU license the STATE when they want to “drive” or “control” your life when NOT on the public roadways operating a motor vehicle for hire? Freedom begins with equality of treatment, right? Isn’t the essence of the Thirteenth Amendment that you own your own body, labor, and property and no one can take it without your consent and just compensation? What makes THEIR property more important than YOUR property, as far as exercising your right to control its use?
The statutory definition of "communist" in 50 U.S.C. 841 is someone who REFUSES to acknowledge or live within the limits on their authority. When are USEFUL IDIOTS like the guy who wrote this article going to STOP acting like the COMMUNISTS they are and FINALLY acknowledge the above constitutional limits upon the delegated authority of the police to enforce ONLY the CRIMINAL and never the CIVIL law?
If people like this legal ignoramus are going to SLANDER people like us by connecting us to violent, anarchistic behavior, I think it's time to give him a label: Government Supremacist. He places government above the people they are supposed to SERVE in rights, autonomy, and freedom. If white supremacy is bad, then ALL forms of supremacy, INCLUDING Government Supremacy, are bad. And its time to give the false pagan god he worships in violation of the First Amendment another name: De Facto Anarchist Government as described in:
| Your Irresponsible, Lawless, and Anarchist Beast Government, Form #05.054
https://sedm.org/Forms/05-MemLaw/YourIrresponsibleLawlessGov.pdf |
More at:
Sovereignty for Police Officers, Form #12.022
SLIDES: https://sedm.org/LibertyU/SovereigntyForPolice.pdf
VIDEO: http://youtu.be/qFDWYLWiE1I
“Although not explicitly mentioned in the federal Constitution [read: Ninth Amendment] the right to travel freely from one state to another is a basic right under the Constitution. The nature of the federal union and of constitutional concepts of personal liberty unite to require that all citizens be free to travel throughout the length and breadth of the United States uninhibited by statutes, rules, or regulations that… burden or restrict this movement. The right to travel freely… is secured against interference from any source whatever, whether governmental or private… And the constitutional right to travel between states implies a correlative constitutional right to travel within a state.”
[California Jurisprudence (Third Edition), Volume 13, Section 238]
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Story by Eric Brandt, MotorBiscuit, 6/7/23
SOURCE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/do-sovereign-citizens-need-a-driver-s-license-and-a-license-plate-to-drive/ar-AA1cg2jZ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c3c075dd23b344ab9bcc62b2acacd267&ei=21
How is the lack of a driving license a tenant of the sovereign citizen movement? The concept of sovereign citizenship has been getting attention lately because of the death of Chase Allan. Allan was a 25-year-old student gunned down by police in Utah in March 2023 following a verbal altercation with an officer. Based on information gathered by media outlets since then, it appears that Chase Allan and his family subscribed to a form of sovereign citizen or “American State National” ideology.
According to Meaww, Chase Allan was stopped for using an illegitimate license plate on his BMW, refused to present a license or registration, and refused to exit the car. The officer called for backup and tried to remove Allan from his vehicle when one of his fellow officers shouted “gun,” and Allan was subsequently shot and killed by the police. A gun was found in Allan’s car, but it’s unclear whether he reached for it during his arrest.
This raises questions about sovereign citizen ideology and whether you can really circumvent laws regarding driver’s licenses, car registration, and car insurance. Before we get to that, let’s dig into what a sovereign citizen is and what they believe.
What is a sovereign citizen?
The definition of a “sovereign citizen” depends on who you ask. Broadly speaking, a sovereign citizen is someone with libertarian political opinions who rejects the authority of local, state, and federal law enforcement. They often have an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution that conflicts with Supreme Court rulings and precedents.
Sovereign citizens tend to make a distinction between “traveling” and “driving.” Sovereign citizens are quick to point out the right to travel enshrined by Article IV of the Constitution. They’ll claim that citizens can freely “travel” within the country for any reason without a license while “driving” applies to persons using roads as a place of business, like truck drivers, mail carriers, and food delivery drivers. This might seem semantic, but it’s an argument that’s gotten people in a lot of trouble, to say the least.
Article IV, Section 2 is widely understood as establishing federal jurisdiction over interstate travel. It does not necessarily guarantee a right to public roads, which didn’t exist as we know them today when the Constitution was written. According to most legal scholars, Article IV does not mean you can legally drive on public roads without a driver’s license or a valid registration.
You may have seen videos of libertarian types asking police officers, “Am I being detained?” during what would normally be a mundane traffic stop. Sadly, these interactions sometimes end in gunfire or smashed car windows.
Do sovereign citizens need a driver’s license and license plate?
The short answer is yes. You can call yourself a sovereign citizen, but that self-appointed title doesn’t change the rules of the road. According to Jalopnik, drivers using public roads are all subject to the same regulations and require a valid driver’s license, car registration, and car insurance.
If you’re tempted by fake, 3D-printed license plates, like the one Chase Allan may have been using, don’t do it. Besides being illegal, they’ll likely cost you more in fines than they’ll save you in registration costs.