The "Billy Madison Doctrine": Don't be an idiot

Judge Leif Clark of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas signed an order last month in an apparent dispute over the discharge of a debtor in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In his "Order Denying Motion for Incomprehensibility," Judge Clark ruled on a motion whose title sounds ripped from pages of The Onion: "Defendant's Motion to Discharge Response to Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Response Opposing Objection to Discharge."

In a one-paragraph ruling, Judge Clark wrote, "The court cannot determine the substance, if any, of the Defendant's legal argument, nor can the court even ascertain the relief that the Defendant is requesting. The Defendant's motion is accordingly denied for being incomprehensible."

But it's Judge Clark's footnote, which speaks for itself, that really caught our eye:

"Or, in the words of the competition judge to Adam Sandler's title character in the movie, 'Billy Madison,' after Billy Madison had responded to a question with an answer that sounded superficially reasonable but lacked any substance,

'Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response was there anything that could even be considered a rational thought.

Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.'

Deciphering motions like the one presented here wastes valuable chamber staff time, and invites this sort of footnote."

For the clueless, Billy Madison on IMDB

UPDATE: the smoking gun takes notice