Posted on 04/30/2025 8:40:53 AM PDT by bluescape
A lot of X videos show cars stopped by police for various reasons where the drivers says they don't have to have a driver's license. Some say they are traveling not driving or something similar. They might add 'it's common law that you can drive without a license.
Besides the reason for being stopped like being drunk or speeding, and even besides being uncooperative and belligerent cause they might have drugs on them, are they right about not being required to have a driver's license?
I"m in Oklahoma and I thought it was widely known that you better have your license and registration on you as well as proof of insurance if you're pulled over.
Maybe the laws changed or differ from state to state.
Are these 'travelers' without a license right? Much of the time they don't want to give their name or other info that would be included on a license. Usually if your watching the video on X their claim isn't doing them any good since they're getting arrested.
I don’t care for some of the power-tripping authoritarian stuff I see from *some* cops, but anyone who doesn’t produce a valid license upon request needs a good Rodney King style beat-down and a few months with three hots and a cot.
LOL! That is a solid defense...but that opens you up to charges of malicious intent
When I worked in LE I saw more people coming to jail for driving without a valid license than anything else. Those people who were arrested were the ones who already had their license revoked, suspended or rescinded and had already been warned to not drive, so they were a small subset of the people who didn’t have a valid license, yet still they managed to account for more arrests than any other crime. Take away a driver’s license and people will still continue to drive.
And Pennsylvania v Mimns says that when the nice officer asks you to get out if the car, you get out of the car. Otherwise, Officer Sparky, badge number 50KV may enter the chat.
I got out of a ticket once with a memorized number.
I went 7 years deliberately not carrying my license, it had nothing to do with this stuff though, it was because I discovered that cops would usually drop the infraction that made them pull you over and just settle for making you show your license to a judge by writing that non-moving violation ticket.
America used to be more casual.
I forget the exact form, but there was one form for foreigners earning income in the US. The anti-tax people liked to quote it because it said something like "If you are a US citizen you don't have to pay this tax...". Unfortunately by the time I heard of it and saw it, it followed that with "... Instead file your tax with the standard 1040.". I don't know if the IRS added that after people like Schiff quoted the first for or if the anti-taxers intentionally quoted only half the sentence. Either way, it was not the deep secret that only non-citizens have to pay income tax like they said.
Any public servant who assaults and batters a citizen merely for not producing a "valid" "license" upon "request" needs to have his law enforcement certification revoked, his sorry carcass put in prison for five years, and a million dollar judgment entered against him personally.
I think there is a case to be made for charging them with being in the US illegally. If they aren’t subject to the US, they are illegal.
It’s incredibly ironic that they somehow will, in the same breath, claim that codes and regulations ‘aren’t law’ then proceed to quote UCC, Uniform Commercial Code.
They’ll also assert that such as enacted by the legislatures of the various states only apply to commercial transport and don’t apply to people ‘travelling in their private capacity.’ They’ll frequently misquote SCOTUS cases and bizarrely state supreme court cases outside the jurisdiction of the state where the decision was made.
They turn minor infractions into misdemeanor and felony convictions, assert that the court has no jurisdiction over them even while in cuffs, and ultimately, when they start serving the inevitable jail time (for tickets that few judges would even consider jail time for), they’ll attempt to use the legal system to punish those who rightly followed the laws they disdain.
Ultimately, they somehow believe they’ve cracked some secret code and believe all of us are idiots for following the laws when we don’t have to.
My favorite is when they play word games... “I’m not here to represent (pronounced Re present) myself, I’m here to present myself” or “I do not stand under, I stand above and overstand what you’re saying.” Or “I am not the ALL CAPS entity, I am the living man... I present the ALL CAPS entity for custody of the court” (and hands over their birth certificate...)
“could impound your car”
Then the offender will stop making payments and let it go back to the loan company.
Police take great care when stopping a Sovereign. They have often leaped out of their vehicles with a blazing AK.
The ones that make their way into online video are more dirt road lawyers who have embraced a more private life and want to really really be left alone.
Thanks for the answers. Most of these cases that I’ve seen on X involve the driver being evasive for whatever reason and the police have pulled them over for a decent reason like speeding or seat belt.’
The very act of claiming they don’t need a license and refusal to give their name seems like suspicious activity and the next step when police want them to get out and be detained sets off resisting which escalates to arrests. Sometimes the video give more details of a violation like drugs discovered or suspended license. Some just escalate to arrest for no good reason cause they’re dicks.
If they qualified as good enough to put on X for some reason it’s not because things were settled in a civil manner.
This is the whole “sovereign citizen” crap.
Let me pose this question: Do you think the driver of an 18 wheeler should have to prove they have the proper training to drive the tractor? If that is true, where does the ability to prove that you can operate safely without putting others in danger go from a requirement to a suggestion?
The constitution details a group of “freedoms”. All of them are personal freedoms. None of them allow you to act in a way that puts others in danger. None of them are dependent on using roads and highways that are built and maintained by the community.
Just get a license and follow the rules.
My nephew was gifted with a $20,000 Mazda, brand new. I don’t remember the model, but obviously a lower end one.
He let it be impounded and didn’t tell anybody. I could have gotten that car out and took over the payments if he had just said something and didn’t want the car.
I knew a guy that stopped paying taxes for close to 10 years. He eventually bought a 35 foot sailboat and sailed from one Caribbean island to another and Florida.
He eventually turned himself in but I never heard what penalty he paid.
I think you are OK driving without a license as long as you stay on your own property.
IDK what that means. Probably not nice though.
No. The state government is fully empowered to require, issue, and enforce drivers' licenses.
I watch ALL “Sovereign Citizen” videos. (for amusement) Am I an expert on them? Kinda.
THERE IS ZERO BASIS for “Sovereign Citizen” beliefs.
They NEVER win in court. They do NOT have a legal leg to stand on in ANY state.
The 10th Amendment
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The Constitution (which Sovereign citizens always refer to) gives all power not specified in the constitution to the federal government to the states.
Laws about driving, insurance, and almost everything else are “state or Local laws”
Sovereign citizens are NOT governed under “Natural Law” or Maritime Law while DRIVING a motor vehicle on the highways in the 50 United States. (They may be traveling, but they are still “DRIVING”)
They claim under the constitution that they have a “RIGHT” to “travel”. In THIS they are correct!!! They can walk, ride a horse, take a bus or train and “travel” anywhere in the US, but they can’t DRIVE a motor vehicle on public highways without following all the laws associated with doing so. PERIOD!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.