For those of you who worry about the professional standards at the Justice Department, given the numerous bad decisions made over the past year in cases ranging from the dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case to the witch hunt against John Yoo and Jay Bybee, not to fear — the Civil Rights Division has a plan to improve the competence of its lawyers.

Thomas Perez, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, has organized a new “Professional Development Committee.” It is organizing a training class for staff that will teach them “ways to work easily with others and create a more pleasant working environment.” Given the transfer of the former chief of the Voting Section to South Carolina under circumstances that raised concerns that the decision was made because of the chief’s opposition to the dismissal of the Black Panther case, Perez has arguably already created a “more pleasant working environment” for the left-wing activists in the division.

Apparently, the committee is also considering “additional courses in grammar and proofreading, writing, and how to use Westlaw” to conduct research. There is no explanation of why the “elite” lawyers at Justice are in need of basic grammar, proofreading, and Westlaw courses. Given the number of legal and factual errors committed by the Office of Professional Responsibility in the report on Yoo and Bybee, perhaps OPR’s lawyers should also be included in the Civil Rights Division’s efforts. However, what is needed is more in the nature of remedial legal education on topics like consistently applying the correct legal standard of review, the basic due process that must be provided to targets of an investigation, how to keep one’s moral and political bias out of an investigation, and the ethical requirement of not leaking details of a confidential law enforcement investigation to the press.