Law of the Land: Sovereign Citizens
Recently, there have been reports of people in Northeast Ohio claiming to be sovereign citizens, particularly when interacting with the police. At the highest level, people who identify as sovereign citizens generally refuse to follow laws, reject court rulings and believe they are not required to comply with federal, state and local authorities.
This has been reported to show up as refusing to pay taxes, rejecting driver's licenses, filing frivolous lawsuits, and creating counterfeit documents, among other things.
In Monday's installment of our "Law of the Land" series on the "Sound of Ideas," where we look at how laws affect our every day lives, we're focusing on this anti-government set of beliefs. The ideas are prominent enough that they've gotten the attention of the Ohio Statehouse, where two representatives have proposed legislation aimed at discouraging people from refusing to identify themselves to police, while driving.
Guests:
- Eric Taylor, Sergeant, Parma Heights Police Department
- Raymond Ku, Law Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
- Ric Simmons, Law Professor, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law
School Funding Proposals
Many homeowners had sticker shock when their property tax valuations landed in mailboxes last year. Taxes in some municipalities increased more than 20%, which has led to lawmakers working on how to provide property tax relief for Ohioans.
But this has the potential to cause complications for school districts across the state, who rely heavily on property taxes for the majority of their funding. Several districts in Northeast Ohio have already posed new ideas on how to fund their schools, one of which is a new income tax.
精东影业's Education Reporter Conor Morris joins the "Sound of Ideas" on Monday to talk about this topic, and share some of the reporting he's done across the region.
Guests:
- Conor Morris, Education Reporter, 精东影业
- Julie Erwin, Treasurer, New Philadelphia City Schools
