Public officials and law enforcement officers are finding to their dismay that the "paper terrorism" tactic of bogus liens, popularized by anti-government extremists such as the Montana Freemen, is back.

The filing of illegitimate liens to harass authorities and private citizens has been a key tactic of the anti-government sovereign citizen movement in the past decade. However, during the 1990s many states passed laws to make such liens easier to remove, illegal to file, or both, causing some officials to declare that the problem was gone.

Recent events in Wisconsin and other states suggest that bogus liens are still a tactic of choice for anti-government extremists.

On November 5, Steven Magritz of Saukville, Wisconsin, was convicted of seven counts of criminal slander to title for maliciously filing phony liens against 37 Ozaukee County officials.

Magritz, a sovereign citizen and tax protester, placed bogus liens on the county sheriff, a judge, court clerks, and others. He also filed phony bankruptcy petitions in their names. Magritz claimed that each of the victims owed him $15 million.

Magritz did this in an effort to intimidate county officials, whom he considered responsible for foreclosing on his home in 2001 after he stopped paying taxes. As a result of Magritz's actions, some victims' credit cards were unexpectedly cancelled and they had problems making other financial transactions.

Magritz, who represented himself at the trail, was given an opportunity to question prospective jurors. At that time, he told the jurors that he did not "contest the facts" of the case, adding, "I plead guilty by way of confessions and avoidance." Despite his remarks, he did not formally plead guilty to the charges.

The charges against Magritz were filed by the Wisconsin Attorney General's Domestic Security Unit, which investigates anti-government activists who try to intimidate government officials, police, and private citizens by filing bogus legal documents.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of ten years in jail and a maximum fine of $10,000. Magritz faces sentencing following the completion of a presentencing investigation.

In recent weeks, other similar cases have also emerged.

In Arizona earlier this month, David Vigil and his wife Whitney Starr, self-described "freemen," were arrested for filing false liens against officials in Oro Valley after a relative was ticketed for driving without license and registration.

In Colorado, on October 30, Lawrence Michael Jiron, was convicted in Alamosa on four counts of filing false liens. Jiron, leader of a group of sovereign citizens in southwestern Colorado, filed $30 million liens against a variety of police officers and public officials following an arrest.

In Oregon, long-time anti-government activist Lyle Hartford Van Dyke, Jr., arrested in early October on charges of conspiracy and passing false financial notes, has filed bogus liens against the federal judge and prosecutors involved in his case. The judge, District Court Judge John Coughenour of Seattle, who has presided over many trials involving anti-government extremists, told an Oregon reporter that he gets similar documents at least once a month.

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