Opinion
CV418-204
09-28-2018
KRISTIN-ELIZABETH MACK, Plaintiff, v. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, TAMMY KENNEDY, Defendants.
ORDER
Plaintiff filed a Complaint that identifies herself as a "real party in interest, full faith and credit seaman, captain of this vessel, Executor and sole heir of the legal name/entity/vessel/deceased estate/trust: Kristin Elizabeth Mack." Doc. 1-1 at 1. She repeatedly stresses that she is prosecuting this case not as a plaintiff but as "a woman, who is alive and of sound mind, blood [ ] flowing through my veins." Id. This language has all the hallmarks of the "sovereign citizen" theory that has been consistently rejected by the federal courts as an utterly frivolous attempt to avoid the statutes, rules, and regulations that apply to all litigants, regardless of how they portray themselves. See, e.g., United States v. Sterling, 738 F.3d 228, 233 n.1 (11th Cir. 2013) (noting that courts routinely reject sovereign citizen legal theories as "frivolous") (citing United States v. Benabe, 654 F.3d 753, 761-67 (7th Cir. 2011) (recommending that sovereign citizen theories "be rejected summarily, however they are presented")); Roach v. Arrisi, 2016 WL 8943290 at *2 (M.D. Fla. 2016) (noting that sovereign citizen theories have not only been consistently rejected by the courts, but they have been described as "utterly frivolous," "patently ludicrous," and "a waste of . . . the court's time, which is being paid for by hard-earned tax dollars") (cite omitted); United States v. Alexio, 2015 WL 4069160 at *3 (D. Hawaii 2015).
Mack's pleadings repeatedly cite the Uniform Commercial Code, and so-called "sovereign citizens" often file "lots of rambling, verbose" pleadings that, inter alia, "rely heavily on the Uniform Commercial Code." United States v. Perkins, 2013 WL 3820716, at *1-2 (N.D. Ga. 2013). Her reference to herself in the third person as "a woman" with "blood . . . flowing through [her] veins" is also characteristic of such frivolous sovereign-citizen claptrap. Trevino v. Florida, 687 Fed. Appx. 861, 862 (11th Cir. 2017) (dismissing as frivolous sovereign citizen lawsuit filed by a "living, breathing, flesh and blood human being"); Alexio, 2015 WL 4069160 at *3 (noting that sovereign citizens believe in a "somewhat mystical distinction between a 'person' and a 'human being' ") --------
Whatever her reasons, Mack has refused either to pay the filing fee or file an application to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP), despite being afforded 21 days to do so. Doc. 2. Instead, Mack has filed a "Notice" that she is entitled to proceed without paying costs under the Federal Rules of Evidence and the United States Code. Doc. 4 at 1 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1916 (regarding "seamen's suits") and Fed. R. Evid. 201(d) (regarding judicial notice of adjudicative facts)). She has also enclosed an "Application to collect a fee for payee services" from the Social Security Administration and a "Government Obligation -- Remittance Coupon / Money Order" in the amount of "$400" with reference to "Statement of Account UCC-210," apparently for this Court to utilize in recovering her filing fee from some agency of the United States Government. Doc. 4 at 3-5. In other words, plaintiff has willfully refused to comply with this Court's Order to pay her filing fee or apply to proceed IFP, offering only non-sensical reasons for her refusal to do so.
Within 14 days of the date this Order is served, plaintiff is ORDERED to pay her filing fee or move to proceed IFP. Otherwise, she will face a recommendation of dismissal for failure to comply with a Court order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); S.D. Ga. L.R. 41.1(c). Further filings referencing "sovereign citizen" idioms or arguments (even if she persists in avoiding the use of that term) will not be accepted by this Court as compliance with this directive.
SO ORDERED, this 28th day of September, 2018.
/s/_________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA