Not happy with State Law? Create your own Republic instead!

November 9th, 2015. By LucyC

When things get tough, have you ever thought of creating your own country? You know—when playing by your own rules really appeals? Like when money’s involved? But then you get to thinking about it and realize it could actually be quite a bit of work. What if there was an alternative? Maybe you could form a group of like-minded citizens, like the folks in Key West in Florida who consider themselves as citizens of the Conch Republic. They’ve even got their own flag, apparently. Or maybe there already is a group of like-minded citizens…

Such as in Texas. Bit of a history lesson here. Prior to Texas being annexed to United States, it was The Republic of Texas—its own country for a decade, between 1836 and 1846. Today, there are still some hold outs—including Susan Cammack, a single mother, a pleasant person, by all accounts, who considers herself a “Texian”—that is—a citizen of the Republic of Texas, and not the United States. (Wonder if she has a passport?) Never mind that she wasn’t actually alive to be a part of the actual Republic of Texas—she’s still living the dream.

So long as everyone stays out of trouble—no problem. But, when you start serving legal documents from your “sovereign nation” on a judge and lawyer, ordering them to appear before an “international common law court,” people may not take kindly to it, in fact they will probably decide to play by their rules and have you arrested—if they don’t contact the local psychiatric services folks first. And that is precisely what happened to Susan—the legal authorities were brought in.

The back story? Ms. Cammack was the subject of foreclosure proceedings. So she had a Houston-area chiropractor and the Republic’s chief justice, David Kroupa (oh yes—and why not?) issue a writ of mandamus and quo warrant to state District Judge Rex Emerson who was presiding over the case, and a subpoena to the attorney representing a title company, Bill Arnold. They were most seriously unimpressed.

As it turned out, the chiropractor/chief justice of the Republic of Texas was not acting in the best interests of his friend, because in the state of Texas, it is actually illegal to deliver “any document that simulates a summons, complaint, judgment or other court process with the intent to induce payment of a claim … or cause another to submit to the putative authority of the document.”

So, in February, Cammack was arrested during a raid on a Republic meeting in a VFW hall. Ok—wait—just pause to ponder that one: would Texians who are by default not Texans and, therefore, not part of the Union, be drafted for a foreign war? Do the Texians have their own military? But I digress…back to the raid… The raid, in fact, involved authorities representing the local sheriff’s office, FBI and other agencies and they seized computers, phones and other material from about 20 people participating in the meeting. Whoa Nelly!—the powers that be were in “take no prisoners” mode!

As for Kroupa/chief justice/chiropractor? He pled guilty to a misdemeanor and testified against Cammack at a legitimate trial in the State of Texas. Hey, loyalty to the Republic and fellow Texians apparently only goes so far. Cammack was convicted of three misdemeanor charges–for simulating legal process—ouch!—for which she must pay a $500 fine and serve two years probation. Well, that certainly worked out well. Not.

Cammack says she will appeal her conviction: “I believe my good name has been besmirched … my inalienable rights have been trampled on by the system.” Trampled on by the Republic’s system, I would say. She better hire a lawyer who practices state law, as in Texan law, I would say.

And you see, this is why it is so much better to fantasize about running your own country than actually trying to do it. Important to remember at tax time…

This was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2015 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See, Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.