Constitutionalists Say Law Illegal Proposal To Block Nuisance Liens Would Grant Immunity To Government Officials Who Commit Illegal Acts, They Say

A handful of constitutionalists say Idaho Attorney General Al Lance can “run renegade” and try to block unusual commercial liens if he wants, but he’s just covering up for government officials.

“They (officials) have run roughshod this long, why would they stop now?” asked Gorden Ormesher, a tax protester familiar with the liens.

Lance has proposed a law that would crack down on the filing of bogus liens against public officials, “a growing problem here in Idaho.” The liens, though deemed to have no legal standing by judges, can cause headaches for officials by clouding title to their property.

Both Washington and Montana have passed laws to better protect public officials from such harassment. The laws also are aimed at freeing clerks from the obligation of filing most constitutionalist documents.

Deputy Attorney General Bill Von Tagen said county clerks statewide have seen these strange liens that demand money from public officials. Most clerks now refuse to record the documents, but want the law in place for protection.

Coeur d’Alene’s Leroy Murray, who tried to file a $16 million lien against four IRS agents he claimed violated his rights, said Lance is just protecting his own.

“He wants to grant immunity to government officials who commit illegal acts,” said Murray, a former commercial truck driver, electrical engineer and logger.

Murray sued Kootenai County Administrator Tom Taggart last year when Taggart refused to file his lien. Taggart supports the law, even though First District Judge Gary Haman already ruled in his favor.

Boise’s Gary DeMott, founder of the Idaho Sovereignty Association, which helped prepare some of the liens filed in Idaho, said Lance’s proposal spells trouble.

“In the event they try to enforce it, they’ll be in deep doo-doo,” DeMott said.

DeMott said legislators who vote for the proposed law would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land, and would therefore be subject to … more liens. He argues that any citizen should be allowed to file anything at the courthouse.

Rose Christmann, a 72-year-old Coeur d’Alene woman who sells Avon products, last spring mailed 21 city and county leaders home-drawn legal-looking papers seeking $525 million in gold and silver. These officials had violated her rights, Christmann claimed, by not letting her operate a beauty products business from her home. The city would not allow the business because it lacked a special permit, which Christmann refused to obtain.

Most officials ignored Christmann’s documents.

“No matter how you try to reason, some people just refuse to listen,” DeMott said.

If Lance’s proposed law takes hold, DeMott said he could seek justice by preparing additional liens and sending them through the mail rather than filing them with a county recorder. As long as officials are “put on notice” that they stand accused of violating the constitution, the claims against them will still be valid, he said.

“Truth and justice are sovereign - not process.”

, DataTimes