Rev'd Professor Helen Hall, NLS https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/law/helen-hall
The “Sovereign Citizen” phenomenon originated in its modern form in the 1970s, heavily influenced by the anti-Semitic US group, Posse Comitatus, whose members were convinced that government authorities were in thrall to a Jewish cabal. Over the intervening decades, the hodgepodge of conspiracy theories and political ideologies within the Sovereign Citizen umbrella has evolved and fluctuated. To describe Sovereign Citizenship as a “movement” implies a degree of coherence and shared purpose that the trend lacks. Nevertheless, a number of recurring core elements can be identified, and these include: 1) A rejection of the legitimacy of governmental authority and the rule of law by state authorities; and 2) The idea that individuals are only bound by state law if they “contract” to do so. Some individuals refuse to register the birth of their children, or to pay tax or insurance on their vehicles, claiming that this would amount to accepting the legitimacy of the state.
Anxieties around official responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a desire in some quarters to kick against lockdown restrictions, boosted interest in Sovereign Citizenship across the Anglophone world. Internet forums gained new followers, and some businesses flouting the law drew ideas and rhetoric in support of their stance. In England in particular, links were often made with the Magna Carta. It was frequently suggested that this Medieval instrument shielded “freemen” from the effect of emergency provisions to protect public health (needless to say, this interpretation has no basis in law as actually understood and applied by the courts).
Whilst Sovereign Citizenship does not align with any fixed political stance, it is frequently associated with Far Right and Alt Right positions. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that many narratives around it are rooted in (fantastical) understandings of Common Law and the Magna Carta, combined with an imagined glorious past in which freedom and justice prevailed. It is easy to see how this can elide with visions of racially monochrome Britain, where men were men and women were happy to serve them. However, a recent and distressing case demonstrates that this is not the only guise that Sovereign Citizenship can take.
In 2024, the press reported the tragic death of three-year-old Abiyah Yasharahyalah in Birmingham. His body was discovered in buried the garden of the house where his family had been living, and a post mortem examination revealed that during his short life, little Abiyah had suffered numerous untreated injuries and illnesses. It was also apparent that he had been suffering from malnutrition. His parents, Tai Yasharahyalah and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, were found guilty of having caused his death, and were sentenced to 24 and 19 years respectively.
The evidence at trial revealed that the couple had been motivated by their own belief system, which was an amalgamation of a collection of New Age ideas and some elements from West African religion. They also appear to have been influenced by the Sovereign Citizen movement, asserting that they did not “contract” with the state, and were living in their own “kingdom” with Tai Yasharahyalah reigning as king. In order to maintain the independence of their territory, they attempted to live “off grid”, avoiding contact with the outside world as much as possible. They were not part of a larger group, and the causes of this tragedy were almost certainly multifactorial. These parents did not inflict years of abuse on their toddler purely because they had once encountered an internet forum on Sovereign Citizenship or learnt about it in conversation with friends. There were other ideological factors driving their behaviour, as well as their unique personal experiences and innate characteristics. Nonetheless, Sovereign Citizenship undoubtedly fed into their worldview in ways that proved extremely destructive. Neither is it the only recent example of harmful behaviour linked to Sovereign Citizens in the UK, in 2023 a group interrupted a live inquest in Essex, attempting to shut down the proceedings and kidnap the Coroner.
The ideas of Sovereign Citizens may gain traction partly because some of their base ingredients are derived from well known philosophers and political theorists, albeit blended and reimagined in bizarre ways. It is true that Hobbes and Locke both conceived of a social contract as the basis of law, but neither of them were proposing that it was a de facto opt in system for individuals. They would also have both been scandalised to learn that their writing was being used as a justification for attacking members of the judiciary or harming children (Locke in particular had a deep and genuine commitment to child welfare).
Equally, Sovereign Citizens are wholly correct that the state as we know it does in fact exercise coercive power over those who reside within it. Criminal law, and indeed swathes of civil law, are necessarily mandatory and compliance is enforced by punitive sanction. That is effectively the only viable way of ensuring a fair and safe society (a point in fact made both Hobbes and Locke).
So far, no magic bullet has been found to tackle conspiracy theories. However, in the case of the notions surrounding Sovereign Citizens, education around law and Constitutions can only be helpful in tackling superficially plausible claims. People are drawn in because many of the assertion are a caricature and distortion of reality, as opposed to invention from whole cloth (this is also true of many conspiracy theories relating to science and medicine of course, but that is beyond the scope of this blog). This means that whatever lawyers definitely have a key part to play in disseminating accurate and useful information about how and why the legal and political system operates as it does. The greater the availability of constructive, accurate and engaging content from lawyers, the harder it becomes for misinformation to flourish and spread.
Related Articles
Parents who caused death of buried boy jailed BBC News (12 December 2024)
Meet the deeply radical “anti-tax” group that is growing in popularity Sky News (24 November 2024)
Chelmsford: Group sentenced after coroner kidnap plot Essex Police (28 October 2024)
What is the Sovereign Citizen Movement? BBC News (5 August 2020)
Comments