• mateomaui@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        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
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          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
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              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
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            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
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          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
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            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
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            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
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              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
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                edit-2
                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
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  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.