DOJ Sues Democratic Governor Over State Land Order—and Misspells Her Name Five Times in Court Filing

Department of Justice lawyers filed a 21 page lawsuit this week that drew more attention for a spelling error than for the legal claim inside it. Reporters counted the name “Mikie Sherill” spelled wrong five times in the court paper, even though the correct spelling appears elsewhere.

Those five misspellings may look small, but they matter. Courts will usually let lawyers fix small mistakes, yet repeating the error makes the Department of Justice look careless and hands critics a talking point when the fight is about rules in New Jersey or the actions of ICE.

The mistake was not a stray typo at the bottom of the page. It shows up across paragraphs that argue the state order blocks federal work, and the error quickly became the story.

The paper challenges an order from Mikie Sherrill that limits what federal agents can do on state owned land. That order says immigration officers cannot enter or use nonpublic state property without a judge signed warrant.

Sherrill made her case in plain language when she signed the order on February 11.
She said, “Given ICE’s willingness to flout the Constitution and violently endanger communities—detaining children, arresting citizens, and even killing several innocent civilians, I will stand up for New Jerseyans’ right to be safe,” and she launched a portal for people to report encounters with agents.

The lawsuit calls the order an “intolerable obstacle” to federal immigration enforcement and says it violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause. That phrase and the legal claims appear in the same paper that keeps mangling the governor’s name.

That combination of squaring off in court and tripping over spelling made the filing an odd spectacle. In the era of instant screenshots, errors like this travel fast and make good headlines faster than legal reasoning does.

For critics of the current federal team, the misspelling fits a larger pattern of careless moves by the Donald Trump era Justice Department. Reporters and former prosecutors point to a string of errors and odd decisions that have damaged the agency’s reputation.

Those examples include redaction and document handling mistakes that left private names exposed, filings that collapsed under basic legal defects, and a rise in dropped or dismissed cases, say watchdogs and news reports. The point is not about charm school for lawyers. It is about an agency that cannot afford to make avoidable mistakes while it brings big cases.

Back in Trenton, state officials said the spelling errors only strengthened their resolve. A spokeswoman said the state will defend the order in court and keep offering tools to protect immigrant families.

Legal scholars say the case will test limits. States may control use of their property, but the courts will decide how far a state can go before it blocks federal officers from enforcing federal law.

For readers who do not care for irony, there is a small one here. A large federal agency argues that a governor crossed a constitutional line, and the agency keeps tripping over a basic fact about her name.

Featured image via YouTube screengrab