# Data dictionary: AI hallucination sanctions in US courts, 2023-2026

Version 1.0. Data cut November 1, 2026. Files are UTF-8 CSV with a header row. Text fields that contain commas are quoted.

## ai-sanctions-2023-2026.csv

One row per included court order (119 rows). The article's headline figures use the 93 rows where `weak_link` = N.

| Column | Type | Description | Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| `case` | text | Case name as printed in the order, shortened where long. | |
| `court` | text | Court that issued the order. Notes in parentheses mark a magistrate judge's report or a tentative ruling. | |
| `jurisdiction_state` | text | Two-letter state where the court sits. National courts (Tax Court, Court of Federal Claims, Federal Circuit) and most federal courts of appeals are coded `US`; one Tax Court row adds the trial city in parentheses. | e.g. `NY`, `CA`, `US` |
| `federal_or_state` | code | Court system. | `federal`, `state` |
| `court_level` | code | Trial-level or appellate court. District courts hearing bankruptcy appeals are coded `trial`. New York Supreme Court (a trial court in New York) is coded `trial`. | `trial`, `appellate` |
| `docket` | text | Docket or case number as printed, with reporter citation where useful. | |
| `order_date` | date | Date of the order (YYYY-MM-DD). Where the date is not printed in the extracted text, `notes` says where it came from. | 2023-01-01 to 2026-11-01 |
| `filer_type` | code | Who made the filing with the inaccurate content. | `attorney`, `pro se`, `both` (a represented party supplied the material and counsel filed it), `unclear` (the order does not say) |
| `ai_tool` | text | AI tool, only as the order names it. Otherwise `not stated`, with any detail in parentheses. | e.g. `ChatGPT`, `not stated` |
| `sanction_type` | list | Every measure in the order, separated by semicolons. Details appear in parentheses. Parse on semicolons outside parentheses. | see codes below |
| `monetary_amount_usd` | number | Fixed dollar amount stated in the order and tied to the AI-related conduct. Sum of all such amounts in the order (several attorneys, or a fine plus a fixed fee award); `notes` itemizes. Blank when no amount is stated, including fee awards to be set later. | e.g. `2500`, `29495.90` |
| `practice_area` | text | Broad subject matter label assigned by us from the order. | e.g. `employment`, `family` |
| `source_url` | URL | Link to a copy of the order itself (court site, govinfo, CourtListener, Justia, or a copy hosted by the discovery tracker or another site). | |
| `verified` | code | Row checked against the order text. | `Y` for every row |
| `notes` | text | Coding notes: what the order says, itemized amounts, date sources, and any difference from the tracker summary. | |
| `sample_stratum` | code | Sampling stratum and wave. Used for weighting. | `census_2023_2024`, `random_2025`, `random_2025_wave2`, `random_2026`, `random_2026_wave2` |
| `tracker_row` | integer | Row number in the discovery tracker snapshot of November 1, 2026. For audit. | |
| `counsel_side` | code | For attorney filings, the side counsel represented, from the order's own description. Not used in the article. | `plaintiff`, `defense`, `other` (Tax Court, family, probate, juvenile, bankruptcy and similar matters, and the one `both` row), `n/a (pro se)`, `unclear` |
| `failure_pattern` | list | Every type of defect the order itself identifies, separated by semicolons. | `nonexistent case`, `fabricated or misquoted quote`, `mischaracterized holding`, `wrong citation`, `other/unspecified hallucination` |
| `weak_link` | code | `Y` when the court does not itself attribute or suspect AI (only the other side raised it, the court spoke only conditionally, the court said the cause did not matter, AI appears only in a general statement or a citation to another case, or only a separate opinion mentions AI). A court's own "appears", "likely", "may" or "suspect" is not weak-link. | `Y`, `N` |

### `sanction_type` codes

| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `monetary` | A fine, penalty, or fee or cost award imposed for the AI-related conduct. |
| `referral to bar` | Referral to a grievance panel or bar, or an order to send the ruling to a bar. |
| `CLE` | Required continuing legal education. |
| `disqualification` | Removal of counsel or a bar on appearing. |
| `striking` | A filing or citations stricken. |
| `show-cause only` | An order to show cause, with no sanction yet decided. |
| `warning/no sanction` | A warning, caution or admonishment, or an express decision not to sanction. When it is the only code, the article calls the order "warning only". |
| `other (...)` | Anything else, described in parentheses: dismissal, filing restriction, reprimand, default judgment, issues waived, notice to clients or judges. |

### `failure_pattern` codes

| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `nonexistent case` | A cited case that does not exist. |
| `fabricated or misquoted quote` | A quotation that does not appear in the cited source. |
| `mischaracterized holding` | A real case cited for something it does not say. |
| `wrong citation` | A real case with the wrong reporter, page or court. |
| `other/unspecified hallucination` | The order says the content was inaccurate or AI-generated without itemizing it. |

### Weights

To reproduce weighted shares, weight each row by its stratum: `census_2023_2024` = 1; `random_2025` and `random_2025_wave2` = 528/65; `random_2026` and `random_2026_wave2` = 938/65.

## excluded-unverified.csv

The 59 sampled tracker entries that did not meet the inclusion rules. They count in no statistic.

| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| `case` | Case name as listed by the tracker or the order. |
| `tracker_date` | Date the tracker gives for the entry. |
| `tracker_party` | Filer type as the tracker lists it. |
| `source_url` | Link checked, where one exists (8 entries had none in the tracker). |
| `reason` | Why the entry was excluded, tied to an inclusion criterion. |
| `sample_stratum` | Sampling stratum and wave, as above. |
| `tracker_row` | Row number in the tracker snapshot. |

## attorney-discipline.csv

One attorney-discipline matter (People v. Crabill, Colorado Presiding Disciplinary Judge, 2023). Same columns as the first sixteen columns of the main file, without `counsel_side`, `failure_pattern`, `weak_link` or `court_level`. It is not a court order in litigation and counts in no statistic.