Fifth Circuit pulls judge over AI errors in Mississippi DEI case

The Fifth Circuit's decision lands at an awkward intersection: the errors at issue were not in a lawyer's brief but inside the court's own order. Wingate initially issued a temporary restraining order blocking House Bill 1193, and that order was later found to contain fabricated names, references to events that had not occurred and nonexistent legal authorities. The order was replaced, yet Wingate then issued a preliminary injunction that continued to block the law — which is what Mississippi appealed.

The appeals court's move goes beyond fixing a flawed decision. Mississippi argued the AI-related errors undermined confidence in how the district court handled the litigation, and the panel, with US Circuit Judge Jerry Smith writing for the three judges, agreed that reassignment was warranted. That makes the episode a test of how courts handle generative AI in their own work, at a moment when US courts operate under no single uniform framework for lawyers' use of the technology and individual judges have adopted differing approaches.

The guidance attached to the ruling matters for what comes next. The Fifth Circuit said the legislation does not apply directly to students and recognised that teachers and students can keep discussing issues involving race, sex and civil rights in various circumstances. Robert McDuff of the Mississippi Center for Justice, representing the plaintiffs, said the decision addressed some of their concerns on that point, while the plaintiffs can continue challenging other aspects of the law when the case returns to the district court.