Benchslaps, Department of Justice

Justice Department Can't Figure Out Who This 'Betsy DeVos' Woman Is

Well-written briefs are all alike, every boneheaded brief is boneheaded in its own way.

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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

She may be the first cabinet appointee confirmed with the aid of a VPOTUS tie-breaking vote and the most unqualified Secretary of Education in American history, but the Justice Department isn’t sure who this Betsy DeVos woman is. They do understand that they’re representing someone in a case about student loans brought by a woman named Dieffenbacher, they just don’t know who their specific client is.

And it earned them a sly benchslap.

That’s not the Secretary of Education. While the phrase “that’s close enough for government work” has a long history, one hoped the Justice Department would be a bit more demanding. On the other hand, she’s got an unusual spelling, so maybe it’s understandable that someone might tack on an errant “s.” That said, this is the 25th docket entry — how does someone screw this up now? It’s called “cut and paste,” folks.

I’m sure they’ll fix this going forward:

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Swing and a miss. Apparently now she’s the Onion Knight.

Let’s really focus on what happened here. Someone realized that they’d screwed up an earlier caption and, with full knowledge that there was a mistake, offered a new spelling on a court filing without expending the 0.65 seconds of effort it takes for Google to find the correct spelling. That’s remarkable. Really, what do lawyers in the “Predisent” Trump administration have against proofreading?

Thankfully these repeated flubs weren’t lost on Chief Judge Virginia Phillips in the first footnote of her latest opinion:

DeVos serves as the defendant in this matter pursuant to her official capacity as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Counsel for Defendant incorrectly spells Defendant’s name as “Davos” in several locations. (See, e.g., Doc. No. 25 at 1.)

Hey, at least she only latched onto one misspelling. It’s all about small miracles!

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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