# Contested Claims in the Exhibit: Provenance and Judicial Treatment

This section documents the exhibit's contested assertions — ZIP/admiralty jurisdiction, the United States as a corporation, the 1977 "re-establishment," and related registry and flag-date material — giving each theory's origin and court treatment [unverified]. The framing is neutral and all quotations verbatim [unverified].

## 1. "ZIP codes invoke admiralty jurisdiction / a federal zone"

**What the exhibit asserts [unverified].** The exhibit links ZIP codes to admiralty jurisdiction and a "federal zone," so that a ZIP-coded address places the addressee under federal rather than state authority [unverified].

**Provenance.** "ZIP" is the Postal Service's *Zone Improvement Plan*, a mail-sorting measure, not a jurisdictional one: "The ZIP in ZIP Code stands for Zone Improvement Plan, and it was introduced July 1, 1963, as part of a larger Postal Service Nationwide Improved Mail Service (NIMS) plan to improve the speed of mail delivery" [64]. The jurisdictional reading is a sovereign-citizen tenet: the movement's overview notes that "people are tricked into this contract by various methods, including Social Security numbers, licenses, or ZIP Codes: thus, avoiding their use means immunity from government authority" [66]. A tax-protester text widely quoted by the Tax Protester FAQ asserts that a ZIP-Code address creates "a 'Federal jurisdiction' or 'market venue' ... that override State boundaries," pulling the user into "an international, commercial venue involving admiralty concerns of the 'United States', which is a commercial corporation domiciled in Washington, D.C." [65]

**Judicial treatment.** No reported United States decision accepts the ZIP theory [unverified]. The allied fringed-flag/admiralty argument has been rejected expressly: *Greenstreet* held that "To think that a fringed flag adorning the courtroom somehow limits this Court's jurisdiction is frivolous" [67], citing *Vella*, which called the same claim "without merit" and "totally frivolous" [68]. Canada's *Meads v. Meads* [69], 2012 ABQB 571, cataloging "Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments" (OPCA), documents postal-code avoidance as a scheme indicium: "Any avoidance or variation on postal code strongly suggests the OPCA litigant has adopted an 'everything is a contract' scheme. OPCA litigants in that category apparently believe that use of a postal code means accepting some kind of contract with the state" [69].

**A citation caution [unverified].** Secondary sources sometimes attribute the ZIP rejection to *Benner* [79] and *Burkhart* [78], but the reported decisions there contain no ZIP-code holding — *Benner* is a one-line affirmance and *Burkhart* a tax appeal whose four objections do not include ZIP codes [78]; neither should be cited as a ZIP authority [unverified].

## 2. "The United States is a commercial corporation chartered by the UN/UNO"

**What the exhibit asserts [unverified].** That the United States is a commercial corporation domiciled in Washington, D.C., with the UN/UNO as chartering authority [unverified].

**Provenance.** One strand ties to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, which incorporated the District's municipal government; the corporate reading "stem[s] from a misunderstanding of the term municipal corporation used in the Act," since "[m]ost U.S. cities and counties are municipal corporations" [73]. A second strand reads 28 U.S.C. § 3002(15) — a Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act definition — as declaring the nation a corporation; its text reads: "(15) 'United States' means— (A) a Federal corporation; (B) an agency, department, commission, board, or other entity of the United States; or (C) an instrumentality of the United States" [70]. The "commercial corporation domiciled in Washington, D.C." phrasing traces to that same text [65].

**Judicial treatment.** *Boyce* [72], 38 F. Supp. 3d 1135 (C.D. Cal. 2014), addressed § 3002(15) directly: the Boyces "citing 28 U.S.C. § 3002(15)... contend the court's jurisdiction extends only to the section of territory occupied by 'the ultimate parent Federal corporation,' i.e. the District of Columbia" — held "unavailing" because the subsection defines "United States" only for the federal debt-collection chapter [72]. In the 2017 *Beane/Tucci-Jarraf* prosecution, the government's response records the defendants' claim "that the United States is a corporation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §3002(15)" that had been "foreclosed and terminated," and answers: "The defendants' arguments, however, have no legal merit" [71]. No decision accepts the theory [unverified]. The UN-charter element has no documented judicial or legislative source [unverified].

## 3. "NYC 1977 = re-establishment of the 13 Colonies d.b.a. New Netherland"

This is the exhibit's own synthesis; no external support was found in any statute, council record, decision, or scholarly work surveyed [unverified]. What the record shows is narrower: the city changed the flag date from 1664 to 1625 by Local Law 3 of 1975, and "the seal itself was altered only by the adoption of Local Law 98 on 13 December 1977, and approved by the mayor on 30 December 1977" [77]. The official description reads: "Date: Beneath the horizontal laurel branch the date 1625, being the year of the establishment of New Amsterdam" [21]. The "d.b.a." phrasing echoes a documented OPCA motif — *Meads* records litigants addressing officials as "'[name in upper and lower case letters] "doing business as" [name in upper case letters only] [title of the official]'", which "usually indicates a litigant has adopted the 'everything is a contract' OPCA concept" [69] — but the exhibit's specific historical claim appears original to it [unverified].

## 4. Development Corporation for Israel / Israel Bonds registry data

The exhibit lists DOS ID 104147, filed 1955-03-21, CEO Israel Maimon [unverified]. The NY DOS registry blocks automated access, so the entity — not each field — is corroborated independently [unverified]. Development Corporation for Israel (Israel Bonds) is "the U.S. underwriter of debt securities issued by the State of Israel," a New York City-headquartered "broker-dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)," whose inaugural Independence Issue was offered in 1951 and whose current president and CEO is Dan Naveh [74]. SEC EDGAR lists DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FOR ISRAEL, CIK 0000028471, state of incorporation New York [75]. FINRA BrokerCheck shows an active firm of that name, CRD 11148 / SEC 8-4218, New York, NY 10150 [76]. Israel Maimon led the organization 2016–2021, so the exhibit's "CEO Israel Maimon" matches a past, not the current, chief executive [74]. The exhibit juxtaposes this entry with its corporate-status arguments without stating a conclusion; this report describes, but does not endorse, any reading [unverified]. The DOS ID and filing date remain [unverified] pending a manual NY DOS lookup.

## 5. The flag-date change as having "manipulated the city's history"

The exhibit presents the 1975/1977 changes as manipulation of the city's history [unverified]. The verified chronology: the seal and flag originally bore 1664 for the English capture; "The earlier date of 1625 was substituted by the city council in Local Law 3 of 1975, signed by the mayor on 8 January 1975" [77], and "the seal itself was altered only by the adoption of Local Law 98 on 13 December 1977, and approved by the mayor on 30 December 1977" [77]. The change was a public legislative act amending the Administrative Code; the current Green Book likewise describes 1625 as "the year of the establishment of New Amsterdam" [21]. That the change carried a political dimension — foregrounding the Dutch founding over the English capture — is a fair reading; that it was covert is not supported, the local laws being enacted and published instruments [unverified].

## Sources

[21] https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcas/about/green-book-city-seal-and-flag.page — NYC DCAS Green Book: City Seal and Flag
[64] https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/july/zip-code-introduced — Library of Congress - ZIP Code Introduced July 1 1963
[65] https://evans-legal.com/dan/tpfaq.html — Evans, Tax Protester FAQ - zip code / admiralty arguments
[66] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement — Wikipedia - Sovereign citizen movement
[67] https://hallapproved.com/tx/cases/federal/district/1996/1986395 — United States v. Greenstreet, 912 F. Supp. 224 (N.D. Tex. 1996)
[68] https://syfert.com/federal/district/cases/671-f-supp-1128/vella-v-mccammon — Vella v. McCammon, 671 F. Supp. 1128 (S.D. Tex. 1987) + citing cases
[69] https://ia902301.us.archive.org/26/items/sovereignty_20211014/Sovereignty/2012%20ABQB%20571%20%28CanLII%29%20_%20Meads%20v.%20Meads%20_%20CanLII.pdf — Meads v. Meads, 2012 ABQB 571 (CanLII) - full decision PDF
[70] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/3002 — 28 U.S.C. § 3002 - Definitions (LII/Cornell)
[71] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tned.82728.46.0.pdf — United States v. Beane & Tucci-Jarraf, 3:17-cr-00082 (E.D. Tenn. 2017) - Gov't response re 28 U.S.C. 3002(15)
[72] https://www.ecases.us/case/cacd/c5978916/united-states-v-boyce — United States v. Boyce, 38 F. Supp. 3d 1135 (C.D. Cal. 2014)
[73] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Organic_Act_of_1871 — Wikipedia - District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871
[74] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Bonds — Wikipedia - Israel Bonds / Development Corporation for Israel
[75] https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=development+corporation&type=&dateb=&owner=include&count=100&action=getcompany — SEC EDGAR - Development Corporation for Israel (CIK 0000028471)
[76] https://api.brokercheck.finra.org/search/firm?query=Development%20Corporation%20for%20Israel&includePrevious=false&hl=true&nrows=12&start=0&r=25&wt=json — FINRA BrokerCheck - Development Corporation for Israel (CRD 11148)
[77] https://www.crwflags.com/FotW/flags/us-nyc.html — Flags of the World - New York City seal/flag dates 1975 and 1977
[78] https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/501/993/254910 — United States v. Burkhart, 501 F.2d 993 (6th Cir. 1974) - no ZIP-code holding
[79] https://openjurist.org/618/f2d/115/benner-v-commissioner-of-internal — Benner v. Commissioner, 618 F.2d 115 (9th Cir. 1980) - no ZIP-code holding


[^21]: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcas/about/green-book-city-seal-and-flag.page — NYC DCAS Green Book: City Seal and Flag
[^64]: https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/july/zip-code-introduced — Library of Congress - ZIP Code Introduced July 1 1963
[^65]: https://evans-legal.com/dan/tpfaq.html — Evans, Tax Protester FAQ - zip code / admiralty arguments
[^66]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement — Wikipedia - Sovereign citizen movement
[^67]: https://hallapproved.com/tx/cases/federal/district/1996/1986395 — United States v. Greenstreet, 912 F. Supp. 224 (N.D. Tex. 1996)
[^68]: https://syfert.com/federal/district/cases/671-f-supp-1128/vella-v-mccammon — Vella v. McCammon, 671 F. Supp. 1128 (S.D. Tex. 1987) + citing cases
[^69]: https://ia902301.us.archive.org/26/items/sovereignty_20211014/Sovereignty/2012%20ABQB%20571%20%28CanLII%29%20_%20Meads%20v.%20Meads%20_%20CanLII.pdf — Meads v. Meads, 2012 ABQB 571 (CanLII) - full decision PDF
[^70]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/3002 — 28 U.S.C. § 3002 - Definitions (LII/Cornell)
[^71]: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tned.82728.46.0.pdf — United States v. Beane & Tucci-Jarraf, 3:17-cr-00082 (E.D. Tenn. 2017) - Gov't response re 28 U.S.C. 3002(15)
[^72]: https://www.ecases.us/case/cacd/c5978916/united-states-v-boyce — United States v. Boyce, 38 F. Supp. 3d 1135 (C.D. Cal. 2014)
[^73]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Organic_Act_of_1871 — Wikipedia - District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871
[^74]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Bonds — Wikipedia - Israel Bonds / Development Corporation for Israel
[^75]: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=development+corporation&type=&dateb=&owner=include&count=100&action=getcompany — SEC EDGAR - Development Corporation for Israel (CIK 0000028471)
[^76]: https://api.brokercheck.finra.org/search/firm?query=Development%20Corporation%20for%20Israel&includePrevious=false&hl=true&nrows=12&start=0&r=25&wt=json — FINRA BrokerCheck - Development Corporation for Israel (CRD 11148)
[^77]: https://www.crwflags.com/FotW/flags/us-nyc.html — Flags of the World - New York City seal/flag dates 1975 and 1977
[^78]: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/501/993/254910 — United States v. Burkhart, 501 F.2d 993 (6th Cir. 1974) - no ZIP-code holding
[^79]: https://openjurist.org/618/f2d/115/benner-v-commissioner-of-internal — Benner v. Commissioner, 618 F.2d 115 (9th Cir. 1980) - no ZIP-code holding