sovereign citizens

Noun

sovereign citizen (plural sovereign citizens)

1. (conspiracy theories) A member of a loose movement of Americans, Canadians and Australians who consider themselves answerable only to their own particular interpretation of the common law, and not subject to any government statutes or proceedings.
   • An officer from a large metropolitan area said that “militias, neo-Nazis and sovereign citizens” are the biggest threat we face in regard to extremism. […] Last year, for example, a man who identified with the sovereign citizen movement — which claims not to recognize the authority of federal or...2015 June 16, Charles Kurzman, David Schanzer, “The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2021

   Synonyms:

   sovereign, SovCit, sov

2. (in plural) The body politic of a nation.
   • The supreme authority remains with the sovereign citizens, and the uncurbed authority of the various branches of government, local, national and federal, extends only to the specific and limited functions which have been conferred upon each by the free consent of hte citizens for their better...1924, Oscar Newfang, The Road to World Peace, page 332