Stopping groundless liens against public officials.

The attorney general of Texas has dubbed it "paper terrorism" - the filing of fraudulent, harassing liens against the property of public officials. It's a favorite tactic of self-described patriots and common law court advocates. And it's a menace to the business of conventional courts, not to mention the victims.

The process is roughly this: The "patriot" with a grudge, citing "failure to perform a public duty," files a groundless lien against a government official's property. Without a law or directive to the contrary, the clerk or recorder is obligated to accept it. Often there is no requirement to notify the owner, so he can be completely unaware until, for example, he tries to sell the property.

And so begins a long, court-clogging process to clear the lien. Such liens have been filed against sheriffs, judges and even a U.S. attorney.

States are addressing the problem in several ways: making the filing of such documents a criminal offense (either misdemeanor or felony), providing for civil remedies and allowing rejection of false liens before they're filed. A few states, like Washington and Wisconsin, have long-standing laws to combat the liens. Montana and Ohio last year, and at least five states this year - Colorado, Florida, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming - have passed measures to stem the tide of the bogus court documents.

"Liens are, by nature, subject to abuse," says Representative Dan Grossman, a cosponsor of...