Federal judge's AI-drafted order invented plaintiffs; appeals court removes him
A temporary restraining order blocking Mississippi's anti-DEI law (HB 1193), signed July 20, 2025, named 11 plaintiffs who were not parties and two defendants nobody had sued, said three universities had cancelled programmes with nothing in the record to show it, quoted words that are not in the statute and cited declarations from people the appeals court said may not exist. The state flagged the errors two days later; the court swapped in a corrected order backdated to July 20 and called the problems clerical. After Sen. Chuck Grassley raised the use of AI, Judge Wingate acknowledged a law clerk had used AI in drafting. On Oct 22, 2026 the Fifth Circuit vacated the order, called the proceedings a 'botch job' and ordered the case reassigned to a different judge; the law can be enforced while the case continues.
Damage
A federal court order containing fabricated facts blocked a state law until the appeals court vacated it; the judge was removed from the case
Sources
The Mississippi Independent, second source. Evidence confidence: medium. Dated by the original order. The new fact this refresh is the Oct 22, 2026 Fifth Circuit ruling (Judge Jerry E. Smith writing, Judge Catharina Haynes writing separately on the final paragraph). Neither source we could open links the opinion or names the AI tool; reassignment on remand is described by the panel as extraordinary. Reach rated 2 for the public bodies covered by the statewide law.
Factor ratings and the score are this index’s judgments by a published formula; facts, dates and figures come from the linked sources. Where a lawsuit is pending, the summary reports allegations, not findings.
