"(1) The documents filed in this matter are pure gibberish, and of no meaning, either at law or in equity."

"(4) This Court does not have time to be bothered with antics such as this."

The courts may not have the time. But many sovereign citizens do.

And the clerks of counties and courts have no choice but to take sovereigns' filing fees and enter their documents into the public record.

The FBI calls this tactic "paper terrorism" and says it clogs the court system with frivolous lawsuits; liens against public officials; and fake money orders, personal checks and other documents.

For years, sovereign citizens in Wyoming and elsewhere have filed documents with convoluted grammar, citations of obscure or outdated legal cases, affidavits of their refusal to acknowledge the federal government, "land patents" asserting their property independence from health and safety codes, and "presentments" from "grand juries" finding public officials guilty of treason and other crimes.

Some sovereigns' documents take a decidedly illegal tack, such as Cheyenne resident and firearms dealer Michael John Smith. In 2003, he filed bogus "UCC-1" financial statements to place nearly $2.9 billion of liens and secure debts on properties belonging to state and federal officials who prosecuted him for income tax evasion. The tactic Smith used for tax evasion included filing other bogus documents.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not look kindly on Smith's filings designed to harass federal officials professionally and personally, its attorneys wrote in November 2005. "The individuals named as debtors in the false financing statements face substantial hardship and costs associated with false information in the public record that may impede or impair their personal credit and/or detract from performance of duties."