Legal Argument of an Indiginous Moor of America

I have heard of this, and had even read some cases on it but this is the first time I've seen this tried in court.

I'm waiting in a packed court room in Eastpoint, Michigan awaiting to be called for my motion to enter judgment based on an arbitration award, when the case of STI v Jerome Monroe gets called.

Now I always listen with some attention as other motions are called to get the flavor of how the Judge makes rulings and to see other attorney's styles and see how various matters might be argued -- it is a valuable occasion to learn while awaiting your turn.

So up walks the attorney for STI and up walks MR. Monroe, a tall and wide man of African-American ancestry well dressed for court as he is clad in jeans and a parka,
holding some kind of blue binder type book.

The attorney begins to speak as its his motion for a default entry, but Monroe cuts him off claiming the court has no jurisdiction over him.

"How so?" inquires the Court.

Sayeth Monroe - "I'm a sovereign indigenous Moor and I demand an Article 3 court and this court has no jurisdiction over me."

The Court then takes him through exactly how it has jurisdiction over him - the amount owed is under $25,000, he lives in Eastpointe even though he claims he doesn't reside there as he's a sovereign Moor, not a resident. The Court gets him to admit he has a drivers license, and also gets him to admit that he does in fact have the Harley Davidson Motorcycle, the debt for which he is being sued for by STI (You've figured out by now that he was trying to avoid paying for something with this argument right?).

He continues to interrupt throughout this line of questioning saying that not only the court has no jurisdiction and he demands an Article 3 court and a change of venue, but he doesn't
consider himself bound by the Constitution but rather international
treaty as he's indigenous to this land.

The Judge at this point tries to figure out the indigenous part and asks if he's a native American then. He says no he's a Moor. When asked to explain he claims the Moors were here before white people and he's sovereign in this land. The Judge doesn't buy it and states there's lots of people in this court and society of various ethnicities and that he's enjoying the benefits of this society including the Motorcycle and income.

Our Moor states he has no income but the sweat of his brow and he's paid in Federal Reserve Notes, not money.

At this point the Judge lets him know she has jurisdiction and that's it and then sets discovery. he then asks to be on the record. The judge points out that everything he's said is on the record as the court clerk is taking it all down. He of course doesn't believe her, so the judge points out the court clerk duly taking everything down.

He then claims for the record that under the UCC he doesn't owe any money as the debt is invalid. The judge points out he's getting somewhere and actually making a legal argument, even
though he's citing a part of the UCC that completely does not apply to the situation.

Meanwhile, the attorneys in court and the other spectators are having a hard time not bursting out laughing.

Moor Monroe then continues and states for the record that attorneys and the court are all in cahoots. At which point the Judge, beginning to lose patience notes for the record that it is not so and is a ridiculous allegation.

The Court then sets discovery and our Moor claims he will send his requests to the creditor directly not the attorney as the creditor isn't present. The Judge succinctly and carefully explains the concept of agency and legal representation and declares he needs to start
following the rules and if he has any submissions they must be filed on the attorney.

Monroe then states he never got any notice of this hearing. The Judge then asks how he happened to be here in the court on time. Our Moor states he occasionally checks at the Court for things.

At this point people are laughing out loud, and the Judge didn't buy it either, and notes he clearly did get notice of the hearing and sets a scheduling order for discovery, dispositive motions and trial accordingly.

He won't accept the scheduling order from the court, but the court states he better comply with it so it may be in his interest to take it.

Kudos to Judge Redmond for putting up with this Moor-on in a restrained and judicial manner. Many Judges that I've seen would have laughed him right out of court or even held him in contempt for some of his statements toward the court.

Watching a pro per litigant argue a crackpot legal theory in order to get out of paying money he owes for a motorcycle he had no problem accepting is rather fun to watch.

Note to others, this crackpot "I'm a Sovereign whatever and demand an Article 3 Court as there's no jurisdiction here!" argument really doesn't wash with the courts, so save the time you spend surfing the net for it, and definitely save your money on the crackpot "How to Claim You're a Sovereign Citizen in Court" books, and use the money instead to pay your debts.