Paper terrorism

Short description: Use of bogus legal documents as a method of harassment

"Paper terrorism" is a neologism referring to the use of false liens, frivolous lawsuits, bogus letters of credit, and other legal or pseudolegal documents lacking sound factual basis as a method of harassment against an opponent on a scale described as evocative of conventional armed terrorism.[1] These methods are popular among some American anti-government groups[2] and those associated with the redemption movement.[3]

Mark Pitcavage of the Anti-Defamation League states that these methods were pioneered by the Posse Comitatus.[4] Some victims of paper terrorism have been forced to declare bankruptcy.[5] An article by the Southern Poverty Law Center states that another tactic is filing reports with the Internal Revenue Service falsely accusing their political enemies of having unreported income.[6]

Such frivolous lawsuits also clog the court system making it more difficult to process other cases and including using challenges to the titles of property owned by government officials and others.[7] Another method of paper terrorism is filing bankruptcy petitions against others in an effort to ruin their credit ratings.[8]

In the late 1990s,[9] the "Republic of Texas", a militia group claiming that Texas was legally independent, carried out what it called "a campaign of paper terrorism" using bogus land claims and bad checks to try to congest Texas courts.[10]

## See also

* Abuse of process
* Freeman on the land movement
* Frivolous litigation
* Pseudolaw
* Spamigation
* Sovereign citizen movement
* Strategic lawsuit against public participation ("SLAPP suits")
* Vexatious litigation
* Texas secession movements

## References

1. ↑ Robert Chamberlain and Donald P. Haider-Markel (September 2005). "'Lien on Me': State Policy Innovation in Response to Paper Terrorism". Political Research Quarterly 58 (3): 449–460.
2. ↑ Haynie, Erick J. (Autumn 1997). "Populism, Free Speech, and the Rule of Law: The 'Fully Informed' Jury Movement and Its Implications". The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 88 (1): 343–379. doi:10.2307/1144080. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/context/jclc/article/6948/viewcontent/15_88JCrimL_Criminology343_Fall1997_.pdf.
3. ↑ Susan P. Koniak (Spring–Summer 1996). "When Law Risks Madness". Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 8 (A Commemorative Volume for Robert M. Cover, number 1): 65–138. doi:10.2307/743460.
4. ↑ Pitcavage, Mark (June 29, 1998). "Paper Terrorism's Forgotten Victims: The Use of Bogus Liens against Private Individuals and Businesses". Militia Watchdog. Anti-Defamation League. http://www.adl.org/mwd/privlien.asp.
5. ↑ "Paper terrorism: How states are, and are not, fighting back". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. August 8, 2017. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/paper-terrorism.
6. ↑ "Common-Law Victims: 'Paper terrorism' isn't just on paper". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 1998. http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/1998/spring/common-law-victims.
7. ↑ Robertson, Ann E. (2007). Terrorism and global security. Facts On File. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8160-6766-4.
8. ↑ Maller, Peter; Lynch-German, Lauria (September 3, 2002), 'Paper terrorism' gaining adherents, Journal-Sentinel, archived from the original on April 3, 2005, https://web.archive.org/web/20050403213930/http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/sep02/71288.asp, retrieved October 6, 2022
9. ↑ Wagner-Pacifici, Robin (2000). Theorizing the standoff: contingency in action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521654791. OCLC 51052255.
10. ↑ Hoffman, Bruce (2006). Inside Terrorism (2nd ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-231-12699-1.

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