-Caveat Lector- http://www.ncsc.dni.us/is/MEMOS/Archives/S96-0472.HTM MEMORANDUM Ref. No. IS 96.0472 March 20, 1996 (revised April 30, 1996) By: Gerald M. Nagle Re: Common Law Courts in the United States ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- The Information Service was asked to provide information on the growth of the Common Law Court (CLC) movement in the United States. The following is a discussion of the history, philosophy, practices, activities in the states, and responses by state officials to this growing movement. The Common Law Court movement is a grass roots movement comprised of individuals who seek an alternative venue for gaining redress for grievances against the federal and state government and against individuals. Adherents view the CLCs as the only legal court of justice recognized by their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and other legal documents such as the Uniform Commercial Code and the Magna Carta. The Courts are established on general principles and questionable interpretations of the common law with the premise that the United States and the state governments have become tyrannies that usurp constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of citizens. Central to the philosophy of the CLC movement is the notion that citizens embracing the common law doctrine as sovereign "free men" are emancipated from the responsibilities that U. S. citizenship entails. The primary goal of the CLC movement is "to restore a constitution for the United States by identifying and removing from office those delinquent perverts who would undermine the Constitution." Another is to reform federal court proceedings by arguing and defending themselves without lawyers. In furthering these goals, proponents of the CLC movement have established more than 100 common law courts in at least twenty states; the number of CLCs continues growing rapidly throughout the nation. As the movement provides an increasingly popular venue for disillusioned and disaffected citizens to seek justice for the wrongs they feel the government, businesses, and private citizens have committed, the threat of social and political upheaval and physical violence must be taken seriously. Already, scores of judges, prosecutors, and government officials have been harassed by CLC adherents filing liens and involuntary bankruptcies against them and have been subjected to threats of physical harm. Many have been sentenced to death by CLC juries. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- HISTORY OF THE CLC MOVEMENT With roots going back to the posse comitatus movement of the 1970s, the CLC movement has ties to the militia and "free men" movements, according to Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The movement seems to have originated in the heartland of America, where economic hardship in the agricultural communities has created a fertile ground for anti-government factions extolling the virtues of a new justice system based on conservative Christian ideology and white supremacy dogma, known collectively as the Christian Identity movement. The movement has a strong attraction to individuals who have run into tax problems or lost their farms and possessions to loan foreclosures or who simply refuse to recognize the authority of a judicial system they believe is corrupt and unfair. The CLC movement is controlled by individuals who, among other motivations, perceive that women and minorities have gained too much power. Not surprisingly, the movement has, at the very least, loose ties to white nationalist and white supremacist movements; many involved in the CLCs hold active memberships in state militias organized as paramilitary groups advocating the overthrow of the present government and the establishment of a new form of government based on the laws of God and their own interpretation of the Constitution. While CLC followers tend to limit their activism to campaigns of paper terrorism and veiled threats, in one instance in early 1994, a court clerk in California was attacked and severely beaten by a thug hired by a group of tax evaders with ties to the common law movement after she refused to file common law liens against court officials. In Ohio, where CLCs are operating in 66 of the state’s 88 counties, Chief Justice Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court has taken a pro-active stand in addressing the movement and has attempted to educate and warn the state court judges and court officials about the movement. He went so far as to meet with members of the so-called "Our One Supreme Court" to learn more about their ideology and goals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- PHILOSOPHY The philosophical underpinning of the CLC movement begins with the premise that the American judicial system is a failure, according to Larry Russell, a CLC activist in Montana, who argues that many laws "don’t serve the cause of justice." Followers "[b]elieve the rights guaranteed . . . by the U.S. Constitution have been subverted by a thicket of laws. . . . They claim the right to retry cases from the regular courts before their own sympathetic peers." Donald Treloar, a CLC activist in Wisconsin, believes the established courts have no jurisdiction over citizens and "are unconstitutional except in matters of admiralty, interstate commerce and contracts." Central to this belief in a lack of jurisdiction over citizens is the notion that the U.S. government is "a private corporation that has no power over free men who prefer to follow only God’s law and the U.S. Constitution." Support for this belief comes from reliance on sources such as the U.S. Constitution, the Bible, the Magna Carta, English common law, the Uniform Commercial Code, Black’s Law Dictionary, and "the 1828 version of the Webster’s Dictionary, which helps [adherents] understand the original intent of the constitutional framers." As for the Constitution, followers cite the authority of Art. III and the 9th and 10th Amendments, while rejecting the 13th and 14th amendments (concerning emancipation of the slave and due process in conferring citizenship). In order to address the perceived tyranny of the government, the Magna Carta is embraced because the document "defined law and custom to prohibit arbitrary royal acts." The UCC figures into the regulation of commerce and how disputes should be settled in civil matters, while all moral authority springs from Christian ideology and biblical interpretation. As explained by reporter, Debbie Salamone, "First there was God. God created man. Man created the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution made corporations--fictitious entities with no morals or souls . . . then corporations created corporate citizens. Because the United States is a corporation . . . it assumes everyone is a corporate citizen who must follow the laws that Congress creates." Followers reject this notion and claim to follow only the U.S. Constitution and God’s laws. The idea of citizens as corporations comes from Schroder, who argues that the laws of the U.S. lost their validity in 1933 after President Roosevelt declared emergency powers during the Depression. FDR’s actions turned people into corporations because the names of parties in legal documents appear in capital letters. CLC followers do not sign their names in capital letters and, ergo, are not subject to the laws of the United States. Based on such a premise, adherents believe Congress, the courts and state legislatures are guilty of [creating and enforcing] illegal statutes and are themselves illegal institutions. Typically, the CLC recognizes no authority other than the county clerk, an exception necessary in order for CLC followers to carry out the paper terrorism that is their modus operandi for exacting justice. Because the government is illegal, enforcing the laws of the land is an act of treason and oppression. For instance, the state and federal tax system is viewed as a tyranny of a corrupt government. Only by declaring oneself a "free man" or sovereign entity can one become exempt from paying taxes or from obeying the oppressive laws and actions of the government. Declaring oneself a free man entails applying for a "quiet title," an archaic legal term, that supposedly makes one a sovereign citizen, able to opt out of the regular legal system. As free men, CLC followers also refuse to acknowledge state authority such as the department of motor vehicles, opting instead to acquire licenses from dubious entities recognized as legitimate by movement adherents. In Ohio, for instance, one common law follower carries a driver’s license issued by the Embassy of Heaven Church in Sublimity, Oregon, a known Christian Identity church. The idea of sovereign citizenship is a requisite for embracing the common law movement, and distinctions between sovereign citizenship and U.S. citizenship have been made by adherents. U.S. citizens are only those born in the District of Columbia or who are naturalized citizens (frequently referred to as "14th Amendment slaves"). Citizens born in the states are citizens of the "united states" of America and are free of federal controls and the controls of state governments. Under the common law movement, states are referred to as countries or republics. Citizenship is further broken down into a male dominant structure. Women are barred from leadership in the CLC movement because of biblical precedent that supposedly states that women can not judge men, and that women are too emotional to judge cases based on logic. The CLC movement, like the larger common law movement and militia and free men movements surrounding it, is best characterized as a zealous movement. True followers are quite willing to die for their beliefs, and they believe that violence is justified to defend against any tyranny to which they perceive the government subjects them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- GENERAL PRACTICES OF CLCs Because CLC activists are dissatisfied with how justice is administered in the American justice system, CLCs are distinguished by guarantees of swift and fair justice. Violent crimes such as murder, robbery and rape bring the death penalty, with sentences to be carried out the day after conviction. In Ohio, plaintiffs in CLC proceedings choose their own jurors; defendants can countersue and choose their own jury. In CLC grand jury proceedings each side has three hours to present its case, lawyers and judges are not allowed to appear in any official capacity, and the process costs less than does the process in the legally recognized courts. CLCs then issue "orders demanding that judicial officials appear before common law courts, sometimes on penalty of death." In Idaho, "judges in the Court of Justice will be selected from the ‘most learned’ in the group. Jurors will be instructed to carry the Bible into the deliberating room. Those who are found guilty of harming another will be ordered to offer redress or risk becoming ‘outlaws’ outside the protection of the court." CLCs always find in favor of the plaintiff and against government officials or government bodies. CLCs can and do meet anywhere at any time. Last summer, the CLC in Minnesota convened in a room in the State Capitol reserved for public use. CLC proceedings are carried out in public meeting facilities, in strip malls, in hotel conference rooms, and in the living rooms of the faithful in the form of constitution study groups. The evolution of the information superhighway has allowed the movement to spread at a remarkable pace. Computer dissemination of CLC materials has spread through the Internet as CLC followers create home pages for posting everything from how-to instructions for declaring oneself a free man or for filing legal actions, to boiler plate letters advocating common law ideologies and threats to send to congressmen. According to pro se activist Harry L. Bowles, "The advent of low-cost personal computers allows angry consumers of the nation’s courts access to others with similar feelings." The Internet allows for almost instantaneous transmission of information. Also, "patriot group fax services offer step-by-step descriptions and fill-in the blank forms (for a fee) for any number of legal instruments," including the ever popular lien. "Bowles says most pro se litigants post what works and what doesn’t on Internet bulletin boards. Their shared work and experiences are their only advantages." CLC orders and verdicts are enforced by sophisticated paper terrorism that exploits loopholes in the legal system. The remedy most often resorted to by CLC followers is the filing of liens against individuals with whom they have a grievance. The use of the lien has become a significant problem for judges and government officials who have rendered convictions or judgments or have taken some official action that placed them on the wrong side of CLC adherents. Last year in Texas, Governor Bush, the State’s Attorney General, and many court judges had $1.7 billion in liens and involuntary bankruptcies filed against them by a CLC activist. Responding to such actions requires judges and officials to retain counsel at significant cost. In addition, as judges receive threats of violence against them or their families, the states must respond with outlays of funds to provide security, including 24 hour surveillance and escort. Even in states having laws making it a crime to impersonate courts of justice, bringing violators to justice can involve significant financial resources that impact the courts’ ability to function properly and attend to normal court business. Filing Liens Because getting a legal lien is fairly easy and often anonymous, the lien has become a primary tool of CLC followers. Liens are obtained after a judgment is rendered in a CLC. Typically, a CLC will hear evidence brought before it and "issue official-looking orders; litigants then typically take the judgment to another county and file it. Whether or not the local clerk can reject such a filing is currently a matter of dispute." If the clerk accepts the document and renders an official abstract of judgment, the lien becomes legal. According to Wes McCoy, "Even though it’s not enforceable and totally bogus, it could scare away a potential buyer of my house or some property." Involuntary Bankruptcies In addition to filing liens, CLC followers resort to filing involuntary bankruptcies to revenge their grievances. "Under federal rules, a person with a judgment worth more than $10,000 can file an involuntary bankruptcy to force the alleged debtor to liquidate his assets to satisfy the debt. A petition for involuntary bankruptcy is decided at trial and, if the judgment comes from a common-law court, it likely will not be recognized and the petition will be dismissed. . . . However, no matter the outcome, the fact that a bankruptcy was filed remains on a person’s credit record for at least a decade. Even a judge’s order to remove the bankruptcy notation from a credit record is not included in the reports most merchants request when deciding to extend credit." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- REACTIONS BY STATES TO ADDRESS CLC ACTIVITIES Even where laws are on the books making it illegal to simulate a court of law or carry on harassing legal proceedings and filings, CLC followers are not dissuaded from continuing their activities. In Wisconsin, for instance, where it is a felony to simulate a legal process, State Senator Joanne Huelsman introduced State Senate Bill 437 (pending as of this revision) intended to stiffen penalties for simulating a legal process under Wisconsin Statutes § 946.68 and for filing various bogus legal documents under § 946.60; the proposed legislation is specifically intended to address the CLC movement in that state. Texas has been beleaguered by a CLC operating just across the border in Lafeyette, Louisiana, where Texan CLC adherents obtain orders that they then file in neighboring counties back in Texas. Furthermore, it is a common practice to get a CLC order in one county and file liens in another county where the clerks are less familiar with CLC activities. Because they are on the front line, court clerks working in jurisdictions where CLCs are active should be better trained at identifying bogus orders; often the only thing that sends up a red flag on a common law filing is the physical bulk of the document which comprises a significant amount of extraneous rhetoric. Colorado prosecutes those filing liens against police and judges on charges of attempting to exert improper influence on public officials. So far, the threat of prosecution does not seem to be a strong enough deterrent to curtail such activity. Elsewhere, prosecutors have taken action against the CLC movement. In Garfield County, Montana, prosecutor Nick Murnion "charged 15 individuals with crimes ranging from criminal syndicalism to impersonating a public officer. The juries convicted seven of the 15, including four who were tried in absentia after skipping bail. Two of the seven have now hired lawyers and are appealing their convictions. Eight warrants are outstanding." Due to the threat of violence, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the courts to tighten security and asked trial court judges to carefully monitor and record CLC activities in their counties. Chief Justice Moyer has responded seriously to CLC activists and has taken steps to inform and educate judges around the state, as well as make clerks and county treasurers more aware of the boilerplate documents the common law followers use. The Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio Judicial Conference are serving as a state clearinghouse for reporting and tracking CLC activities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC CLC ACTIVITIES NATIONWIDE California a.. In 1994, a county recorder was attacked and savagely stabbed and beaten by a man hired by common law tax evaders after she refused to file bogus common law liens. Florida a.. A CLC follower filed a $22.8 million lien against numerous government officials who refused to assist him in fighting the foreclosure on his condominium following a financial dispute. Following the filing of liens, the Orlando-based Constitutional Common Law Court indicted public officials and a federal grand jury, talked of treason charges against officials, and authorized the arrest of court officers." Idaho a.. The common law Courts of Justice are active in at least eleven counties. b.. CLC followers served Lawrence Wasden, a deputy D.A. in Madison county, with felony complaints by a tax protester. Fearing potential violence, county commissioners responded by banning weapons in county buildings. c.. CLC followers sent a deputy attorney general a notice that he faces life in prison or the death penalty for trying to collect delinquent taxes. d.. Gary DeMott, a CLC activist, claims 300,000 Idahoans are sympathetic to the movement; Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Wasden claims the actual number is somewhere between two dozen and 150. Minnesota a.. Members of the CLC movement held hearings in a room reserved for public use in the state capitol building during the summer of 1995. According to State Court Administrator, Sue Dosal, "[L]egislators and court personnel were ‘served’ with a 32 page document; court personnel were ‘commanded’ to forward copies to every judge (see attachment 1). In at least one case, the ‘common law court’ ordered one [court] to release a defendant who was in jail awaiting DWI charges, and to pay $1 million in damages" (see attachment 2). Montana a.. The CLC movement has been particularly active and militant in Montana where the movement has very close ties to white nationalist and white supremacist militias. Many judges and government officials have been harassed and threatened by CLC adherents. In 1994, 36 CLC activists seized a courtroom in Garfield County and held court, intending to interfere with the divorce proceedings of a fellow activist. b.. CLC activists charged a Billings attorney with treason, punishable by death, "for appearing in court on behalf of a company that was trying to repossess an adherent’s truck." c.. Judge Martha Bethel, a city judge in western Montana who has gained a high profile in the media for standing up to the CLC movement, was the target of numerous death threats and threats of terrorism against her family and property after she ran afoul of CLC activists appearing in her court on various civil and criminal matters. Nebraska a.. The state’s common law Court of Necessity has chapters in at least 50 counties. b.. The group wants to submit a petition of redress to the governor and the legislature. c.. CLC adherents have tapped into a nationwide network of CLC militants who issue bogus checks drawn on non-existent bank accounts to pay off the tax obligations, loans and mortgages of CLC faithful. Ohio a.. The common law Our One Supreme Court is active in at least 60 of the state’s 88 counties. b.. Over 1000 Ohioans have signed quiet titles claiming they are free from federal and state laws and from any requirement to honor a judge’s orders. c.. CLC followers meet in weekly constitution study groups. The groups have charged the Ohio Supreme Court justices with treason, sedition, insurrection and engaging in acts of war against citizens. Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery has been accused by the study groups of perjury and insurrection against the U.S. Constitution, a capital crime punishable by hanging. d.. Judges in 37 counties have dealt with at least 140 cases involving CLC followers in the past few years, resulting in at least three judges having been indicted by CLC followers. e.. $100 million in liens were filed against two judges after they refused to produce court records demanded by the CLC. f.. Judge Knapp felt constrained to keep a gun on his bench when hearing a case involving a common law activist. g.. Nine judges and a number of county recorders have been threatened; the Hamilton County Recorder, Eve Bolton, asked for a sheriff to stand guard at her office during business hours. Texas a.. In Orange, Texas, a $1.7 billion lien was filed against Chief Justice Thomas Philips, Governor George Bush, Jr., Orange County Sheriff Huel Fontenot, and other government officials. Lynn B. Hardy, a paralegal who represented several litigants in court, filed the lien after she was indicted on charges of barratry and unauthorized practice of law. She filed a commercial lien for criminal breach of public office and duties. Attached to the two-page lien are more than 100 pages of exhibits, including photocopies of the Texas Legislative Handbook. The petition is a fill-in-the-blank United States Constitutional Citation Criminal Complaint Affidavit and Brief of Information, "complete with spiffy portraits of Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy and Franklin offering words of encouragement in ballooned captions." b.. The issuance of traffic tickets has resulted in a "flurry of motions claiming the defendants are sovereigns, or that Texas has no constitutional right to issue drivers’ licenses, or that a courtroom’s fringed American flag indicates an admiralty court with no jurisdiction over roadways. Wisconsin a.. Two CLCs have ties to a group known as the Family Farm Preservation, an offshoot, according to journalist Richard Jaeger, of the old Wisconsin Posse Comitatus. b.. By-laws of the CLC state that the court’s rulings "will be enforced ‘by militia protections vi et armis’ which is Latin for ‘by force of arms.’" c.. In July, 1995, activists "filed a seemingly legitimate $100 million lien on property owned by Milwaukee lawyer and pro-abortion rights activist Catherine Doyle. They also accused Doyle, the sister of state attorney general James Doyle, of genocide, murder and sexual abuse." The Information Service continues to monitor current developments regarding the CLC movement and will be happy to respond to information requests with updated materials as they become available. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- The Information Service is supported by assessments from all fifty states, by a grant from the State Justice Institute, and by grants from Lexis and Westlaw legal information providers. Points of view expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the State Justice Institute. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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