Redemption movement

The redemption theory is an American conspiracy theory created by Roger Elvick and marketed as a tax evasion and fraud scheme. The theory claims that when the United States government abandoned the gold standard in 1933, it pledged its citizens as collateral so it could borrow money. According to Elvick, the government creates a fictitious person (straw man) corresponding to each newborn citizen with bank accounts initially holding $630,000. The theory further holds that through obscure procedures under the Uniform Commercial Code, a citizen can "reclaim" the straw man and write checks against its accounts.

Elvick, who had been a spokesman for the Posse Comitatus offshoot Committee of the States, began promoting the theory in the 1980s. He was convicted in 1990 for criminal conspiracy. While incarcerated he was further convicted in another conspiracy. Upon release from prison he restarted the scheme in Ohio, where he was convicted in April 2005 of forgery, extortion and corruption. Other people who have followed Elvick's instructions have also been convicted. The US Treasury Department has included the "straw man" claim in its list of frivolous positions that incur a penalty when used as the basis for an inaccurate tax return.

The redemption movement is based upon a complicated theory, widespread in the United States, that consists of several elements. Purveyors of the myth claim that debts can be eliminated by filing a UCC-1 financing statement through the Uniform Commercial Code. They hold that an inalienable right is an "in-a-lien-able" right, having some relation to liens. They claim that birth certificates are negotiable instruments, behind which is a $1,000,000 bond that is pre-paid financing on any activity of the straw man, and that the man or woman, by means of his or her first lien, has first claim on that money and can use it to pay off home or commercial mortgages, bank or student loans, tax liens, credit card debt, etc. Birth certificates are said to be a contract by which the parents sign over all title to their child, releasing it to the state; the state then assumes commercial control over the contract and processes it as if it were articles of incorporation.

The myth holds that there is a distinction between "persons" and "the people" or individual "men" and "women" under the law and that the "legal person" or "straw man," a fictional commercial debtor corporation, is denoted by an uppercase name listed on birth certificates and Social Security cards, the birth certificate representing the body and the Social Security Number representing the commercial account. The man or woman can do commercial assignments by means of an asset called a bill of exchange that can be spent out. The myth holds that governmental courts are mere "colour of law and right" institutions that only have jurisdiction over legal persons. Admiralty law and the doctrine of parity play roles in this myth.

The basic theory is that a filed UCC-1 is public notice of a registered lien by a real human being who is the secured party creditor upon the straw man, the government-created, foreign non-registered corporation. With the straw man under one's control, government has no access to the treasury direct account and also loses its connection to the real, living man or woman. No longer a subject, the man or woman become a free sovereign once again. This process is also known as "redemption." Other important documents in this theory are the security agreement, power of attorney, copyright notice, hold-harmless agreement, UCC-3, notice of security agreement, birth certificate bond, Form 56 (notice concerning fiduciary relationship), Form W-8BEN (serving notice to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury of the correct status of the issuer of the bond and countering any presumption that the issuer might be considered to be a fictional entity), declaration of status, Form 1040-V, Form 1099-OID, and the Notice of International Commercial Claim in Admiralty Administrative Remedy. It is held, however, that the UCC-1 merely creates a rebuttable presumption, which can be overcome if a man or woman is receiving some sort of benefit from the state as a slave. It is held to be important to not sign documents such as W-4 forms, or if one is to sign them, to also write "under duress."

One element of the myth states that Americans are U.S. nationals, not U.S. citizens, and can therefore avoid taxes by changing their filing status from "U.S. citizen" to "non-resident alien." This argument has been repeatedly rejected by federal courts. Classes are often set up to teach the intricacies of the theory, and books have been published about it in the underground press. Canaanite law is held to be an important source of law and The Wizard of Oz (presumably because of the scarecrow character, i.e. the "straw man") and The Matrix trilogy are held to have important symbolisms in reference to this theory, and there is also said to be some connection to the New World Order. The American's Bulletin sells an extensive product line related to the sovereignty myth. It is also widespread YouTube meme.

History

This "sovereign citizen" concept originated in the Posse Comitatus movement as a teaching of Christian Identity minister William P. Gale. The concept has influenced the tax protester movement, the Christian Patriot movement, and other movements by claiming that the U.S. government has enslaved its citizens by using them as collateral against foreign debt. Supporters sell instructions explaining how to "free" oneself by filing particular government forms in a particular order using particular wording.

Gale identified the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as the act that converted sovereign citizens into federal citizens by agreeing to a contract to accept benefits from the federal government. Other commentators have identified other acts, including the Uniform Commercial Code, the Emergency Banking Act, the Zone Improvement Plan, and the supposed suppression of the Titles of Nobility Amendment.

Key figures

According to The Christian Science Monitor, a key figure is Sam Kennedy, host of the "Take No Prisoners” program on Republic Broadcasting Network in Round Rock, Texas. In a mass e-mail early in 2010, Mr. Kennedy vowed to use his show to present a "final remedy to the enslavement at the hands of corporations posing as legitimate government." He pointed to a plan to "end economic warfare and political terror by March 31, 2010.” In two months, he said, “we can and WILL, BE FREE with your assistance."

See also

• Tax protester (United States)