U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate smiles on Aug. 19, 2022, in Jackson, Miss. Wingate ruled Thursday, June 1, 2023, that the Mississippi chief justice cannot be a defendant in a lawsuit that challenges a state law dealing with appointed judges. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
- Senator Chuck Grassley called on the district judge to re-docket his original order to preserve a transparent history of the Court’s actions.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has written to two federal judges regarding their alleged use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to draft court orders with little to no human verification.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate’s order blocking Mississippi’s anti-DEI law is one of the matters Grassley is inquiring about from the judges.
As previously reported by Magnolia Tribune, Wingate’s July order temporarily blocked Mississippi’s anti-DEI law passed by the Legislature this year as part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Justice in June.
The new law, as it was described by lawmakers, prevents public K-12 and higher education institutions from utilizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices when making decisions concerning school employment, academic opportunities, and student engagement. Such decisions are to be based on an individual’s merit and qualifications rather than a person’s race, color, sexual orientation, or gender. The law passed through both bodies in the State Capitol and then received the governor’s signature in April.
After Wingate entered the order blocking the law from taking effect, both sides of the legal challenge noticed significant factual errors in the federal judge’s ruling. Two days later, Mississippi Attorney General’s office, defending the new law, in consultation with the plaintiffs, filed a motion to clarify or correct the Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order issued by Wingate.
Judge Wingate amended his original order the following day and then removed the initial ruling from docket, backdating the amended order as if it were the original ruling.
In a statement from Grassley’s office, the Senate said the oversight inquiry follows public reporting that Judge Wingate and U.S. District of New Jersey Judge Julien Xavier Neals both issued court orders containing serious factual inaccuracies, prompting allegations of AI use.
“As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I am committed to safeguarding litigants’ rights and ensuring that every party in federal court receives fair treatment and careful review by the Article III judges confirmed by the Senate,” Grassley wrote. “No less than the attorneys who appear before them, judges must be held to the highest standards of integrity, candor, and factual accuracy. Indeed, Article III judges should be held to a higher standard, given the binding force of their rulings on the rights and obligations of litigants before them.”
Grassley is asking Wingate and Neals to explain whether they, their law clerks or any court staff used generative AI – or entered non-public case information into generative AI tools – in preparing their decisions.
Further, Grassley called on the district judges to re-docket their original orders to preserve a transparent history of the Courts’ actions.
Grassley’s letter to Wingate can be read in full below.
