$4 billion liens against police officers. Bankruptcy proceedings against the United States government. Claims of grammar-based conspiracies or “backwards-correct-syntaxing-modification fraud.”

Sovereign citizens have found bizarre and creative ways to use court filings and liens to harass public officials throughout the country — and legislators in Georgia have had enough.

Sovereign citizens, though disparate and disorganized, generally all operate under the theory that for one reason or another, the U.S. government and its court system is illegitimate. In practice, this usually involves avoiding taxes or driving without a driver’s license or license plates.