[arethuza]

"left to your own devices"

That reminds me of the old status of being an outlaw - which really meant that you were outside of the protection of the law and anyone could do whatever they wanted to you. It was regarded as rather a harsh punishment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw

[olalonde]

The modern version would probably be "freemen on the land": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemen_on_the_land

"Freemen on the land" are people who believe that all statute law is contractual, and that such law is applicable only if an individual consents to be governed by it. They believe that they can therefore declare themselves independent of government jurisdiction, holding that the only "true" law is common law, as they define it.

[arethuza]

From that list they are particularly keen on declaring themselves "independent of government jurisdiction" when charged with motoring offences - I presume they had all of the required contracts in place to allow them to drive on the roads the rest of us paid for?

[tmh88j]

My friend's girlfriend is a public defender and has dealt with many of them.

If anyone here has not heard of them or knows very little, I would suggest doing some investigating. I don't have respect for them (mainly because the overwhelming majority don't have a clue of the legal system and obligations they have as a citizen yet argue obscure laws), but it will provide some entertainment and a very strange but interesting perspective.

Check out youtube for some interesting court room footage, such as this man who apparently controls the court room because a judge left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzjv20sC5CY

[donall]

This is certainly interesting stuff. Can you recommend an article that deconstructs their motivations and/or comments on whether or not what they're doing is actually legal?

[alex-g]

This is a decent start: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Freeman

[cachvico]

That video's hilarious - do you know if he would actually have got away with that - or would he just have received another summons or fine in the mail?