• corroded@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I truly believe that these license plates actually work but not for the reason these idiots think.

    As soon as a cop sees your plate, they instantly know you’re driving an unregistered vehicle, probably dont have a license, insane, looking for an argument, and impervious to reason. Good chance they’re going to say “Fuck it, I’m not dealing with this crap today.”

    • bassomitron@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      This is probably the correct answer. I drove around without a front license plate for over 4 years (my state requires front and back) since my car didn’t come with screws for a front mount. It was one of those things I put on my to-do list but never got around to and eventually just kind of forgot about it.

      Anyway, I live close to a couple of police stations (I live near a border to another city, so my city and the next city have PDs within a couple miles of each other) and never got pulled over. Hell, I have even went through several traffic stops over the years and none of them ever said a word to me. A few months ago I finally ran into a cop that actually gave a shit and pulled me over. He was obviously a new recruit, as he was very young and did everything very by-the-book. I got a warning and the next day I ordered a mount for my other plate, but I was just amazed I’d gone so many years without any cop caring. I figured it was because most cops just can’t be bothered to care about small shit like that. Though, if I was a minority (I’m in the US), it’d probably be a different story.

      • TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        If you were a minority you’d be pulled over every day, probably each way to and from work with that as the reason. Given expensive fix-it tickets each time. And most likely had your vehicle searched or impounded for multiple failures to comply. Not being hyperbolic, this has happened often. One guy it was 1 day, 3 tickets and then impound because he failed to fix the issue in a day.

        When the rules are applied on a whim by whatever person with authority feels like, you live in tyranny. That isn’t an orderly system. It is a failed nation.

        • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 month ago

          Fix it tickets everywhere I live give you three days to a week from when it was written to get it fixed, you just show the next cop that pulls you over your dated ticket and tell them you ordered the part or have an appointment with a mechanic or whatever. I believe the first half of your comment but the second feels a lot like one bell end to the whole “three sides to every story” saying.

          • TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            “Fix it tickets” are not a national thing. Some places do it, some places don’t. It’s just easier to say with a general meaning like Kleenex versus tissue paper.

            Many places just issue you a ticket. End of story. Once the ticket is issued you are on notice that your vehicle is not considered legally roadworthy. You are legally supposed to park it and not drive on public roads until fixed. Tow it to the shop if you have to.

            Obviously this is onerous and stupid. But it is the law. If you have a minor issue, 99% of the time the pig will let you go and get it fixed like you said. But they don’t have to. “Officer discretion” is a fancy way of saying applying laws on a whim. Picking and choosing when to enforce laws and against whom.

            In some countries it is much more clear cut. If you need to fix something the police escorts you to a staging area, like a big parking lot and that’s where your car sits until it’s fixed. Once fixed the popo there check it before you drive out. People in the lot changing bald tires, burned bulbs, fastening new side mirrors, etc.

            • corroded@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              I have a few issues with what you’re saying. By getting a drivers license and operating a vehicle on public roadways, you’re agreeing that you’ll keep your vehicle in whatever operational condition the law dictates. A “fix-it” ticket is justified if your car doesn’t meet these requirements. Officers applying this law unfairly is a whole other issue, but the concept is not “onerous and stupid.”

              Also, police need some level of “officer discretion.” If you have a friend with a gaping wound in your passenger seat and you’re doing 90mph to the hospital, do you really want a cop to write you a ticket and force you to wait for paramedics to arrive while your friend bleeds out?

              • TechNerdWizard42@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                If a pig is going to ticket you for an issue they’re saying your vehicle is unsafe. By then letting you drive away, they are not protecting or serving your wellbeing at all. They just deemed your vehicle hazardous to you and other drivers and it requires a civil penalty plus fixing the hazard. If they let you drive away, all they’ve done is collected money for their domestic terrorist pension fund.

                Either it’s a hazard that warrants being pulled over and ticketed, or it isn’t. And it almost always isn’t a hazard. It’s an excuse to shoot coloured people and do warrantless searches.

                Discretion for application of the law at the pig level is rife with abuse. In the US, so much so that the laws mean nothing. Pretty much at any point in the day, anywhere you are, you are guilty of a law somewhere. This means if they wish to get you for something, they can. Their discretion. Just decide to apply the law.

                As for your example, no for many reasons. If you’re injured, an ambulance should be driving you with sirens. If your country is so broken as to be unaffordable to help their sick and weak, it is a broken country. Which it is. And let’s say you are driving it. Police should expend zero energy pulling over speeding vehicles. It is a cash grab, it is not safety. If it was for safety, it would just send you a ticket.

                For example in a civilized country where I primarily reside now after leaving the shithole that is the USA, police don’t hide and ambush people. There are speed cameras every so often and when you go 15mph over the limit within 10 seconds, your phone notifies you that you have been fined for speeding with your picture. In the government app you can contest it, pay it, etc. If you continue speeding you just get more fines. There have been cases of people who did go fast as you suggest for personal reasons. No cop hindered them at any point in their journey. They got a bunch of tickets electronically. They contested due to an emergency, judge agreed, tickets dropped.

                No safety issue with a loaded cop pulling you over in an emergency preventing you from helping your loved one. No interaction with police at all. The law is applied 100% of the time fairly to every person from the delivery driver to the “president”. If there is a reason you believe discretion is needed, a judge will decide if that discretion is warranted.

      • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 month ago

        I’m chancing it with my front plate right now too. Been over a year and nothing said yet. I do carry it in my car just in case. I think it’s one of those addon charges, if they catch you for something else and want to just slam you with everything.

        • figjam@midwest.social
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          1 month ago

          Carrying it in your car implies that you know its wrong, leave it in your house and if you get pulled over claim ignorance. “Oh shit. Its not on there? Guess I never knew.”

          Unless you ware already doing something illegal like possession or driving without a valid license they won’t care. Usually

          • y0kai@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Or don’t talk to the cops.

            “Yes” “no” “my name and information are” “here’s my license” “you do not have my permission to search” “have a nice day”

            Not a word more. Anything else runs the risk of being incriminating whether you’re doing anything wrong or not. Note that Miranda rights, when they’re read, say “anything you say will be used against you…” Not might or could be, but will. So, don’t talk. 5th amendment and all that.

            Here’s an excellent video on the topic if you have the time to watch.

            Also, this all applies to the US I don’t know about legal systems in other countries.

          • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 month ago

            I figured I would just say “I’ve been meaning to screw it in but haven’t gotten around to it, I’ll do it right now officer just gotta go buy the mount” but good call I’ll just leave it at home.

            • ivanafterall@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              To really sell it, remove the back plate, too. That way it’ll just look like you didn’t have a screwdriver, at all. Maybe also bust out a tail light, so the cop will be like, “This guy clearly just doesn’t have the necessary tools for at-home repairs! I’m sorry to bother you, here’s a little something to help with these difficult times!”

              • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                1 month ago

                Lul, that’s my old car. Really I just need to buy the mount and screw the holes. I just like how it looks without it better. Lots of cars here don’t have the front one so hopefully I’ll be fine for now.

      • Artyom@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Some states don’t require front plates, so they have to check front and back to notice.

        • Granite@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Yep, I’m in a state where no front plates are required and anything you put up there does not count. I’ve seen people with one state on the front and current state on the back, and it’s fucking legal here.

    • st3ph3n@midwest.social
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      1 month ago

      Also sov cits are probably more likely than the average driver to be carrying concealed weapons and stuff, since they don’t think the law applies to them.

    • buttfarts@lemy.lol
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      1 month ago

      Ever hear one of these guys babbling in front of a cop/judge? They think by speaking the exact phrase of faux-legal gibberish they can magically unlock “immunity from law”. They just repeat the same phrase in as many different word combinations as possible desperately searching for the right incantation

      It never works but being impervious to reality or reason is basically the hill they are willing to die on in order to gain online clout with a niche group of weirdos who for some reason trigger the dopamine receptors in their glass-smooth brains by feeling collectively intransigent together

      • corroded@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I’ve never understood this. Even if they are absolutely convinced that they’re right, you can go watch 1000 videos of judges and cops who are wholly unimpressed with their gibberish. They might be convinced they know a hidden truth, but what good is it when the established institutions don’t recognize it as truth?

        My theory is that they’re just lacking in reasoning skills. How else would you become a sovcit in the first place? If their arguments were effective, every lawyer in the country would be using them.

        • AeonFelis@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          But they do see that this works. They see the rich and famous getting out (often on bail, but who cares about details?) on technicalities, and think they can do it as well. They fail to appreciate, of course, all the expertise and all the legwork that these lawyers needed in order to find these loopholes for their clients.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          you can go watch 1000 videos of judges and cops who are wholly unimpressed with their gibberish

          Okay but what if I told you that’s all a big trick to make you think it won’t work?

        • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          They don’t say it, they don’t even acknowledge it themselves, but they view this in the same way a credulous middle ages individual would view making a deal with the fey. The right set of words, the right incantation, will grant you power over them whether they want to acknowledge it or not.

          That’s the mental image they have. If you ask them how these secret laws are enforced and what actually obligates the judges, police, government, etc to follow the rules, they won’t admit the magical thinking, though they will babble and make up nonsense that sounds, to them, like genuine explanations but is in truth gibberish.

          At the end, though, that’s what they’re doing…they’re chanting mystical incantations that will bind the Queen of the Faeries to their will and prevent the fae from doing harm upon them or impeding them.

          But they don’t even take the cautionary parts of the tales to heart, for even if you should succeed on pulling one over on the Faeries, they are wily and patient, and someday they will trick you into giving up the protection you thought was unbreakable. Just as even if they actually managed to stumble upon the correct legal maneuver, it is likely the system will be back to get them one way or another.

      • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Have you seen the Darryl Brooks trial? The dude murdered 20 people by driving into a Wisconsin Christmas parade and tried to sov cit his way out of it.

        He failed. He’s on 6 life sentences for it. It’s not magic law immunity and the FAFO on that one was great to watch.

      • [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        BuyinG StAmpS is JusTliKe paYing taXes to the shaDdow gov acTuallY ran bYUSPS.

        What you do is you print NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES and glue that, not tape, it needs to be on the same corner as the moon position when facing north.
        Then somewhere on it, scribble in Sharpie the following Stat. st Law, Ch. 71, Sec. 23, circle that 3 times, not 2. Use red.
        I also got mailing supplies including pre-made stamp-like sovereign labels you can buy, Bill’s been using them for years without issues, ask him.

        Still probably too coherent, mb.

        • peto (he/him)@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          You forgot that all writing needs to be done at exactly a 33⁰ angle. they have protractors to check you know.

          • [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            Yes, but you have to keep it vague enough so that when it fails and they come back to you, you can have plausible deniabilty that they did it wrong.
            Oh sorry I meant “it needs to be on the same corner as the moon position when facing north, including copying the angle with your sextant.”

    • Lumisal@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Ok, but you got me thinking it’d probably be possible to trick them into being pro privacy and green tech by using an “off the government grid” angle.

  • OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Sovereign Citizens are the absolute most annoying people. You want to deport anyone? Start with them. Keep the migrants & refugees who want to be here. Send the SovCits to Senegal Somalia.

  • Granite@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I saw my first SovCit plate in the wild yesterday! They also had a tinted cover over it, I assume to hide it. Such a lack of confidence, tsk tsk.

    • Psythik@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I don’t get why they advertise themselves. You’ll blend in a lot more if you use a normal plate and simply never renew the registration. You rarely get pulled over for this and ticket is so minor that it’s easy to just ignore it and never show up to court. But more often than not the cop will just tell you to renew it ASAP and send you on your way. Be polite, apologize, don’t argue/mention any sovern citizen bullshit, and most importantly: don’t be brown-skinned, and usually they’ll just let you go without even so much of a warning.

      • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I also don’t seem to have them near me, but I might start carrying a hammer to break the tint of I see one. Sovereign citizens can get fucked and pay taxes.

      • Granite@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Yeah, debated trying to get a pic, but never had a chance given that we were both driving and I didn’t want to get too close to a truck that I was sure wouldn’t have insurance.

  • saltesc@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I assume they’re travelling on “private” roads and not trespassing on state property. Or they’re an idiot.

    • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      So this was percolating in my brain for awhile, these dense people have a hard time understanding the law but it’s very easy to explain even if they magically are a sovereign citizen which means they don’t have to do all the regular things humans do in a society.

      If you are driving on publicly funded roads that you didn’t contribute to with taxes and did not licence your vehicle to drive on, you are just trespassing. Your options are: pay the fee/fine for trespassing, and then stay off the roads you don’t own, or buy the “ticket” (pay your taxes and ensure your vehicle is licenced.).

      What’s the response to that? Like I know they think a lot of weird and crazy stuff, but I get why they don’t understand some of it, bevause it is complicated and based on law and generations of social contracts. This isn’t that. This is “you can’t trespass, no matter how sovereign you are.”

      • ramble81@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        I was thinking that further and they would say “well foreign visitors can drive on our road and don’t pay taxes”, to which my thought is “yes, but we have bilateral agreements for certain countries which convey certain privileges, please show us your agreement or visa to be in this country”

        • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Right - those visitors either have a passport and were granted permission to enter for a set period of time, or they too would be picked up and deported back to their country.

          There’s a lot of rabbit holes that I can see people with poor reasoning/logic getting stuck down, but this one seems pretty easy to explain…

          • The_v@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            The do pay taxes. The rental vehicle they use is registered and taxed. Most regions have a tax on the rental fees as well. The gas they use has taxes included.

            • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Even more straight forward and valid points.

              I ‘get’ the “oh you are flying the wrong flag so you aren’t the boss of me” desperate misinterpretations of semi-related laws. It’s stupid, but it takes time to explain and honestly it takes a fair amount of trust in a system that usually is working against them (because they are deadbeat parents or idiots who don’t want to pay taxes).

              The driving thing is so straight forward you could explain it to a 6 year old.

      • CileTheSane
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        1 month ago

        “something something right to travel” ignoring the fact that if they aren’t under the law then they also aren’t granted the rights provided by the law.

  • TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    See that’s what happens when you go to a country that does not have normalized relations with your sovereign citizen embassy to work out the sovereign citizen agreements and legislation to handle these sort of interactions.

    • wjrii@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      As always, I welcome any corrections from those who think they can keep this shit straighter than I can, but the gist as I understand it is this:

      Many of them actually believe the entire legal regime of the united states is actually a function of private commercial law and that the “real” government is a sort of suppressed by a corporation that was created under its rules, so if they can successfully opt out of their involuntary commercial relationship with the “Corporation” that they are not bound by its rules, including taxes. Because they’re so very smart, they understand you have to be careful, so making sure that you explain that you’re not engaging in “Commerce” as the corporation’s founding document states is important so they don’t rope you back in. The US Constitution gives the federal government the right to govern “Interstate Commerce” so in the spirit of the law being a series of magical incantations, they want to keep consistent. The various US states are either in league with, or under the thumb of, the “corporation.”

      • CileTheSane
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        1 month ago

        the entire legal regime of the united states is actually a function of private commercial law

        I mean, they aren’t entirely wrong…

        • wjrii@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          LOL. I suppose if anything, there’s a hint of unwarranted optimism in their belief that all their frustrations with the modern world are just one confusing layer deep, and all they need to do is scrape the dirt in just the right places and a logically sound and egalitarian utopia will be there for them.

          I can retain just a bit of sympathy for people who sort of intuitively, even sub-consciously, realize that it’s bonkers for the richest country in the world to have an utterly inadequate social safety net and for life to be so expensive. The response, though, is not useful or reasonable, and I reckon most of the ones who bother to vote will likely vote in a way that forces the Overton window to the right.

          Then there’s the assholes who just want to skip out on child support or debts that they can good god damn well pay due to the benefits they’ve already accrued under the current system.

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Oh you just unlocked a memory for me.

        Sovereign Citizens are mostly a US thing, but not entirely. When COVID hit, there was a video floating around of what was essentially an Estonian sovcit. Among other things she claimed that Estonia was actually a corporation registered in the US, etc. And no corporation can tell HER to wear a mask in the grocery store