# Legal name fraud - the TRUTH! (WTF?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-name-fraud-the-truth-wtf/755886 "2016-05-28T13:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 33
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-name-fraud-the-truth-wtf/755886/33 "2016-05-29T04:31:48Z")
I posted [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19311492&postcount=253) in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=666038) regarding sovereign citizens: > [@Sovereign citizen tests his theories in practice; is shocked by the results](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sovereign-citizen-tests-his-theories-in-practice-is-shocked-by-the-results/635218/257): > > …What these “sovereign citizens” seem to want is to basically be [outlaws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw), in the original sense of the word. > > Per the link, historically, being declared an outlaw was one of the most extreme punishments in pre-modern legal systems. An outlaw was literally outside the protection of the law, so anybody could rob or kill them without any legal repercussions. These so-called sovereign citizens only seem to think about the advantages of being outside the law, such as not having to pay taxes. They don’t seem to think about the disadvantages of being outside the law. Of course, the government and the courts are not going to allow someone to be able to declare themselves outside the law, so this is all moot, but I wonder if these sovereign citizens have really thought about the implications of what they are asking for. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-name-fraud-the-truth-wtf/755886)._