After the Hammer: Six Years of Meads v. Meads

Abstract

This article addresses the phenomenon of Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) through a retrospective investigation of Meads v. Meads. The author begins by discussing whether Meads has met its objectives, and then proceeds with an analysis of the response to the Meads decision by various audiences, including courts, academics, the OPCA community, and the public. Then, the author examines Meads as a unique type of judgment that incorporates court knowledge as its foundation, allowing Meads, in part, to offer guidance to trial court judges. Finally, the author comments on the insight offered by Meads into the day-to-day realities faced by trial courts as they interact with self-represented individuals.

The sovereign citizen superconspiracy: Contemporary issues in native title anthropology

“…In Canada sovereign citizen communities emerged in the late 1990s, promulgated by seminars run by US sovereign citizen David Wynn Miller, who was banned from Canada in 2001 (Pitcavage, 2012). The impact of vexatious sovereign citizen litigants on the Canadian Court system was such that in 2012 Justice Rookes directly addressed the pseudo‐legal arguments put forward by sovereign citizen Jacquie French (aka Jacquie Phoenix) in a detailed judgement, Meads v Meads , designed in part to assist courts in dealing with the same phenomena (Netolitzky, 2018b). Amongst online communities in the United Kingdom, sovereign citizen concepts emerged in 2010, further prompted by a visit to London in 2010 by sovereign citizen influencer Winston Shrout (Pitcavage, 2012).…”

The Dead Sleep Quiet: History of the Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument Phenomenon in Canada – Part II

“…John Spirit is a pseudonym; this individual's actual name is not known. 165 Since 2012, Spirit, a resident of Châteauguay, Quebec, 166 operated a series of websites 167 where Spirit published his ideas, and marketed tutoring services and information kits. Like many post-Menardian pseudolaw gurus, Spirit relied extensively on YouTube lecture videos to explain and propagate his concepts.…”

“…Until Spirit, Freeman gurus essentially ignored actual sources of legal information and authority, and, instead, exhibited little to no understanding of the Canadian court system and legal concepts. 177 Spirit, instead, referenced Meads 178 to conclude (correctly) that the Charter may provide a valid mechanism to challenge government action and legislation. Spirit's materials and lectures explicitly cited and relied on treaties and case law, verifiable authorities referenced and applied in legitimate Canadian legal proceedings.…”

“…Wallace (Wally) Raymond Maxwell Dove 181 was a registered Ontario accountant who initially appeared as a pro-pseudolaw expert witness in Detaxer proceedings. 182 Following a complaint by lawyer Richard Warman, Dove was ultimately expelled and lost that professional status due to Dove's attempts to employ pseudolaw strategies personally and professionally.…”