I've Seen Fake Cites on Both Sides Now

From yesterday’s decision by Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford in Evans v. Robertson (E.D. Mich.) (both parties are pro se):

The Court notes that the parties’ briefing contained multiple factitious citations and quotations, presumably a product of using artificial intelligence (AI) software. For example, Evans cites Aguirre v. Reese, No. 2:12-cv- 01837, 2013 WL 6577085, at *5 (D. Nev. Dec. 13, 2013). ECF No. 64, PageID.559. The citation is nonexistent, and the District of Nevada assigned that case number to Mazzorana v. Emergency Med. Phys. Grp., in which no filings were made on December 13, 2013. Next, Evans attributed the following quote to Doe v. F.B.I., 218 F.R.D. 256 (D. Colo. 2003): “Parties may not evade service by hiding behind pseudonyms while continuing to engage in legal actions using those same identities.” ECF No. 64, PageID.561. That case contains no such language, nor has the Court found that language in any other case. Evans likewise misattributes quotations to two other cases. ECF No. 64, PageID.570-571 (citing United States v. Ziegler Bolt & Parts Co., 111 F.3d 878 (Fed. Cir. 1997); Sec. & Exchange Comm’n v. Knowles, 87 F.3d 413 (10th Cir. 1996)).

Robertson’s filings also contain inaccurate citations. She cites Mickens v. 10th Jud. Dist. Ct., 460 F. App’x 728 (9th Cir. 2011), in support of her argument that courts may dismiss actions used to harass or intimidate rather than to vindicate legitimate claims. ECF No. 39, PageID.352. Although two cases by that title exist, Robertson’s citation is inaccurate. See Mickens v. 10th Jud. Cir. Ct., 458 F. App’x 839 (11th Cir. 2012); Mickens v. 10th Jud. Cir., 181 F. App’x 865 (11th Cir. 2006). The cases were decided by the Eleventh Circuit and concern the application of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine and not dismissal of abusive litigation.

Robertson also cites McNair v. Everly, No. 18-12511, 2019 WL 2560069 (E.D. Mich. June 20, 2019), which does not exist. ECF No. 71, PageID.686. This district assigned that case number to Arnold v. Fresh Start Transitional Homes, in which no filings were made on June 20, 2019. Robertson’s filings also contain other inaccuracies that the Court will not belabor here….

Pro se parties are expected to strictly follow procedural rules, and no authority suggests that those rules “should be interpreted so as to excuse mistakes by those who proceed without counsel.” If an attorney had submitted a brief littered with inaccurate citations, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 sanctions would have been appropriate.

The parties’ pro se status offers no excuse for the factitious citations or quotations, and the Court will not tolerate this practice in future filings from either party. In each of their future filings, Evans and Robertson “must include a written representation that [they have] personally checked each legal citation and each citation is accurate and stands for its asserted proposition.” Failure to do so may result in a recommendation to impose more stringent sanctions.

The song was written by Suno, in response to my short prompt that basically summarized the topic and provided the opening line; here are the resulting lyrics, with no edits on my part:

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