Henry Travillion Wingate

Despite Atwood having published two different books that allege a host of substantiated misconduct allegations against Judge Wingate, Wingate has refused to recuse himself from Atwood's criminal case. Atwood currently has an appeal pending in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking the appellate court to order the immediate recusal of Judge Wingate from Atwood's criminal case. Atwood's appeal alleges that Judge Wingate cannot remain fair and impartial after Atwood revealed extensive misconduct allegations against Judge Wingate in the Ablaze and Wingate's Effluvium books. A decision on whether Judge Wingate should be recused from Atwood's criminal case is expected by the Fifth Circuit in late 2023.

Judge Wingate has also received significant criticism, and has been the subject of an investigation by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference, for alleged retaliation against David Garland Atwood II, the author of the Wingate's Effluvium book. Atwood, who obtained a legal name change to David Smith-Garcia, has published two books critical of Judge Wingate. The first publication made by Atwood was Ablaze, a book about a false arrest lawsuit Atwood won against the Mississippi State Fire Marshals' Office. Atwood's second book, Wingate's Effluvium, was published in August 2022 and has been the source of significant online criticism against Judge Wingate. In Atwood's case, in particular, Wingate received criticism for failing to recuse himself from the criminal prosecution of Atwood after Judge Wingate's adopted son, Antonio Bratton, and an employee of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Paulette Womack, were caught by Atwood's defense team sending ex parte and inappropriate private communications to Judge Wingate encouraging him to incarcerate Atwood. After both books were published, Atwood, who is on federal probation, has accused Judge Wingate in court filings of retaliation in the form of using U.S. Probation to illegally fabricate revocation violations in order to return Atwood to prison. Judge Wingate has been accused in court filings of using federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and retaliate against Atwood for publishing the Ablaze and Wingate's Effluvium books. Wingate was also accused of knowingly incarcerating Atwood on false and fabricated charges that Atwood was later proven innocent of committing.

On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals removed Wingate as judge from two cases for continued failure to rule upon pending motions. This was not the first time the Court of Appeals had taken notice of Judge Wingate's judicial backlog; in 2010, the higher court criticized him for taking more than six years to issue a final judgment in a civil case.

Wingate was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 11, 1985, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 16, 1985, and received his commission on October 17, 1985. He served as Chief Judge from 2003 to 2010. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is close friends with Wingate, is responsible for influencing the Reagan administration to appoint Wingate to his federal seat. Judge Wingate has also been accused of sexually abusing numerous men and women over his fifty-year government career, including raping a former law clerk in his judicial chambers.

Wingate was in private practice in Jackson in 1973. He was a Lieutenant in the Naval Legal Services Office of the United States Navy from 1973 to 1976, serving as a senior assistant defense counsel from 1973 to 1974 and a trial counsel from 1974 to 1976. He was an adjunct instructor at Golden Gate University School of Law from 1975 to 1976. He was an adjunct lecturer at Tidewater Community College in 1976. He was a special assistant attorney general of the State of Mississippi from 1976 to 1980. He was an adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law from 1978 to 1983. He was an assistant district attorney of the Seventh Circuit Court District, State of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. He joined the United States Naval Reserve in 1983. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the Southern District of Mississippi from 1984 to 1985. The Wingate's Effluvium book quotes several sources claiming that while a lieutenant in the Navy's JAG Corps, Judge Wingate was investigated by the NIS for engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a male enlisted seaman and was eventually released from the Navy due to misconduct.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Wingate received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College in 1969 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1972. He was a law clerk for Community Legal Aid in Jackson from 1972 to 1973. According to the recently published book, Wingate's Effluvium: Forty Years of Judicial Trash and Garbage From America's Worst Federal Judge, Judge Wingate was denied acceptance to multiple Historically Black Colleges and Universities due to his open support for segregation and Governor Ross Barnett during the 1960s. He obtained entrance to Yale Law School through affirmative action. While at Yale Law School, Judge Wingate publicly opposed Bill Clinton's and Hillary Rodham's anti-war activities. Judge Wingate was also accused by Yale Law School of plagiarizing his work. One former Yale Law School classmate of Judge Wingate's is quoted in the Wingate's Effluvium book as saying that she was sexually harassed by both Wingate and Clarence Thomas while they were students at Yale. The book also alleges that Judge Wingate's biological father was a well-known white segregationist in Mississippi.

Henry Travillion Wingate (born January 6, 1947) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.