‘Simpsons’ Writer Delights in Learning That the Nebraska Supreme Court Cited Patty and Selma in An Opinion
The Nebraska Supreme Court has officially ruled that Patty and Selma Bouvier have a better understanding and respect for the legal system than the state’s Attorney General — Homer must be working some weird jobs here in the later seasons.
On The Simpsons, Marge’s identical twin older sisters are basically the human embodiments of the Department of Motor Vehicles where they work. Patty and Selma are snide, aloof, indifferent to human suffering and outright hostile toward the layman, especially when the room gets fatter whenever said layman steps inside. But, when it comes to the legal duties of government workers, Patty and Selma understand that the rules deserve their respect. Unless, of course, that rule is “no smoking,” in which case they’d rather transfer to flavor country instead.
That being said, it’s unlikely that the average Simpsons fan would name either Patty or Selma as a model government employee for their job performance at the DMV — some days they don’t let the line move at all (week days) — but, then again, the average Simpsons fan isn’t a justice on the Nebraska Supreme Court, so who are we to disagree with the legal experts?
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Earlier this week, a justice on the Nebraska Supreme Court issued a scathing opinion in which he attacked the Nebraska Attorney General and Secretary of State’s refusal to uphold a legal statute, name-dropping the Bouvier twins as better government employees with more robust legal knowledge than Mike Hilgers and Robert Evnen respectively. When veteran Simpsons writer and showrunner Josh Weinstein heard the news, he just had to share it with everyone from A. Aaronson to Mr. Zukowski:
As Nebraska educator and political organizer Tim Royer explained in the source tweet, the dispute and devastating name-drop of Patty and Selma arose after Hilgers and Evnen refused to enforce a recently passed state law that would restore voting rights to felons in Nebraska who have completed their sentences. The Nebraska Supreme Court opinion containing what may be the first-ever Simpsons reference in such an official document is basically the court's way of telling the Attorney General and Secretary of State to eat their shorts.
Weinstein also requested that Simpsons fans track down other references to the show in official legal opinions and judgments, but, after a brief and completely non-academic search, I couldn’t find any other instance of a state Supreme Court justice roasting another public official using Patty, Selma or any other Simpsons character as an example of someone who could do their job better than them.
Then again, the legal system seems to have scrubbed any trace of Lionel Hutz’ false advertising lawsuit against The NeverEnding Story from the records.
