The 'Sovereign Citizen' scam

"Sovereign citizen belief is linguistic magic.

"They believe: 

Legal power comes from words
If you refuse the words, the power disappears
Jurisdiction is a speech act you can decline
Law is a contract you never signed

"It’s almost medieval in structure: the right incantation breaks the spell.

"That’s why they obsess over:

Capital letters
Punctuation
Specific phrases
'I do not consent'
'Under duress'

"They treat law as performative language gone wrong. ...

"They are not anarchists.
"They are not libertarians.
"They are not anti-democracy.

"They are people who believe the legal system is a linguistic scam."

~ Tim Harding from his post 'What sovereign citizens believe'