Appeals court overturns Mississippi DEI order over AI errors

A federal appeals court overturned an order blocking Mississippi’s ban on public funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives after finding extensive errors in an AI-assisted ruling. District Judge Henry Wingate acknowledged that a law clerk used AI to prepare a draft that was mistakenly docketed.

U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith called the ruling a “botch job,” citing factual assertions absent from the court record. The errors included references to people not named in the complaint, supposed declarations from nonexistent or absent individuals, false quotations from the law and claims that apparently fictitious programs had already shut down.

Teachers, students and parents challenging the restrictions argued that they violated the First Amendment. Wingate had granted a temporary restraining order preventing enforcement of the law, which bars public funds from supporting DEI programs and diversity training in public schools and universities. The appeals panel vacated that order, temporarily allowing enforcement, and directed that the case be removed from Wingate’s jurisdiction and assigned to another district judge.