Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit has been charged with misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property after an April confrontation in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended, per police, with Judge Nelson swiping a man’s sunglasses off his face, hurling them across the asphalt, running after the man trying to pick them up, and then stomping them into the ground. It’s not exactly a Jets vs. Sharks battle. Or, frankly, maybe it is — in that the level of fighting on display didn’t rise much beyond Broadway levels. What allegedly set Nelson off was the other man saying — twice — “Learn how to park.”
And folks… this guy really needs to learn how to park.
By “allegedly,” we mean that it was allegedly Judge Nelson, because the video of the incident acquired by the Idaho Statesman is pretty definitive that someone did all those things, up to and including goofily chasing down a guy trying to retrieve his own sunglasses to mess with him again. The judge has entered a not guilty plea. His next hearing is scheduled for June 18. But beyond the misdemeanor case, Judge Nelson faces a complaint under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act filed by Gabe Roth of Fix the Court, based on the ethical demand that a judge out of a robe is still bound to “maintain […] high standards of conduct.”
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Arthur Hellman provides a detailed account of the requirements under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, drawing upon a two-decades-old order from the Second Circuit about a Magistrate Judge allegedly assaulting the complainant around a campfire. In that case, the Second Circuit determined that the judge needed no further discipline because her conduct amounted to “a one-time private dispute between private citizens, one of whom happens to be a judge.” That said, the order also notes conflicting accounts of the incident as opposed to the clear video and audio here.
Should a judge be the first aggressor in a public tussle? No. But maybe there are mitigating circumstances. Josh Blackman reports that this is a hospice center parking lot and that could contribute to everyone showing frayed emotions. Though we don’t even need to get into the circumstances surrounding the fight itself because you know what should be disqualifying for a judge?
Parking like this:
We live in a civilized society. The bare minimum requirement of a citizen is figuring out how to use a parking space. This should be included in at least one concurring opinion for the upcoming birthright citizenship case. How does someone think this is acceptable? It’s not even the failure to stay within the lines — bad though that is — but placing this space-hogging land yacht’s whole ass end out in the middle of the lane is truly unforgivable.
He also thinks he can park like a he’s the only driver who matters because — as the voice in the video says — “I’ve been here for two minutes.” Under that logic, one could Tokyo drift into three handicapped spots at the grocery store as long as you’re going to be quick about it. Unearned entitlement doesn’t come with a temporal grace period.
I get that this is Idaho Falls, meaning that the other driver had a functionally infinite supply of alternative spots available that wouldn’t involve docking his own tub next to the judge’s truck. But that’s not an excuse for ignoring the clearly painted lines. This is the portrait of a man with no respect for the social contract. Parking within the lines is what separates us from the animals.
I mean, what does he think? That parking spaces are like the federal statutes that he can personally rewrite to satisfy his own partisan whims? Judge Nelson decided that a statute limiting the president from calling in domestic military enforcement unless “the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,” really means the president enjoys a unilateral and unreviewable “range of honest judgment” to decide that an inflatable frog at a protest justifies imposing martial law upon Portland. And he apparently thinks his “two minutes” should “reflect[] a colorable assessment of the facts and law” that trumps the lines we’ve drawn.
Whether or not one believes Nelson’s slapfight (or parking!) deserves judicial discipline, one point Fix the Court makes that should find no argument is that “much like Judge Tom Ludington’s 2025 DUI, the fact that the public only learned about the incident thanks to the press, and months after the fact, doesn’t make Nelson or the Ninth Circuit look great.” Throw in the recent disciplinary decision about Judge Eleanor Ross’s, let’s just call it in camera review, and the effort of her fellow judges to keep her name confidential. There’s a virtue to maintaining confidentiality in an investigation, but these stories read to the public as a judiciary looking to cover for their own.
We’ve watched this exact movie in the Ninth Circuit. When Judge Roger Benitez ordered a marshal to handcuff a crying 13-year-old girl in front of her father — misconduct squarely inside the judicial role unlike whatever game of sunglasses Frisbee golf we’re talking about here — the Ninth Circuit only publicly acknowledged the complaint existed because Above the Law reported it. There’s a way to maintain the presumption of innocence without keeping a whole incident under wraps.
David Lat offered a little more understanding, noting, “as someone who sucks at parking, made a trip to traffic court last year, and doesn’t always have the best temper, I’m not in the best position to judge Judge Nelson.” That said, Professor Hellman flagged the 2018 Wall Street Journal report from Nelson’s confirmation, cataloguing two decades of citations for speeding, blowing through lights and signs, illegal turns, seatbelt violations, driving without proof of insurance, skipping an inspection, and failing to register his vehicle. I’d contend that this is way worse — as a temperament issue — than speeding or missing a red light because those can involve errors in the heat of the moment.
Parking like an asshole is premeditated. Lat may suck at parking (though he’s probably too harsh a critic of his own abilities) but if Lat misses the spot, he’s going to try again! It’s unique among traffic errors in that it can be solved before it has a chance to cause any problems at all.
Parking like this and then choosing to get out and walk away anyway… that is diabolical.
Police: Idaho Falls federal judge knocked off man’s glasses, hurled them across parking lot and stomped on them during confrontation [Idaho State Journal]
Judicial Notice (06.07.26): One Angry Judge [Original Jurisdiction]
Earlier: Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl
Judiciary Tried To Hide ‘Sex In Chambers’ Judge’s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.
Trump Can Now Send SEAL Team 6 To Assassinate Dancing Inflatable Frogs
The post Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson Charged With Battery Over Parking Lot Rumble appeared first on Above the Law.
Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit has been charged with misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property after an April confrontation in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended, per police, with Judge Nelson swiping a man’s sunglasses off his face, hurling them across the asphalt, running after the man trying to pick them up, and then stomping them into the ground. It’s not exactly a Jets vs. Sharks battle. Or, frankly, maybe it is — in that the level of fighting on display didn’t rise much beyond Broadway levels. What allegedly set Nelson off was the other man saying — twice — “Learn how to park.”
And folks… this guy really needs to learn how to park.
By “allegedly,” we mean that it was allegedly Judge Nelson, because the video of the incident acquired by the Idaho Statesman is pretty definitive that someone did all those things, up to and including goofily chasing down a guy trying to retrieve his own sunglasses to mess with him again. The judge has entered a not guilty plea. His next hearing is scheduled for June 18. But beyond the misdemeanor case, Judge Nelson faces a complaint under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act filed by Gabe Roth of Fix the Court, based on the ethical demand that a judge out of a robe is still bound to “maintain […] high standards of conduct.”
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Arthur Hellman provides a detailed account of the requirements under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, drawing upon a two-decades-old order from the Second Circuit about a Magistrate Judge allegedly assaulting the complainant around a campfire. In that case, the Second Circuit determined that the judge needed no further discipline because her conduct amounted to “a one-time private dispute between private citizens, one of whom happens to be a judge.” That said, the order also notes conflicting accounts of the incident as opposed to the clear video and audio here.
Should a judge be the first aggressor in a public tussle? No. But maybe there are mitigating circumstances. Josh Blackman reports that this is a hospice center parking lot and that could contribute to everyone showing frayed emotions. Though we don’t even need to get into the circumstances surrounding the fight itself because you know what should be disqualifying for a judge?
Parking like this:
We live in a civilized society. The bare minimum requirement of a citizen is figuring out how to use a parking space. This should be included in at least one concurring opinion for the upcoming birthright citizenship case. How does someone think this is acceptable? It’s not even the failure to stay within the lines — bad though that is — but placing this space-hogging land yacht’s whole ass end out in the middle of the lane is truly unforgivable.
He also thinks he can park like a he’s the only driver who matters because — as the voice in the video says — “I’ve been here for two minutes.” Under that logic, one could Tokyo drift into three handicapped spots at the grocery store as long as you’re going to be quick about it. Unearned entitlement doesn’t come with a temporal grace period.
I get that this is Idaho Falls, meaning that the other driver had a functionally infinite supply of alternative spots available that wouldn’t involve docking his own tub next to the judge’s truck. But that’s not an excuse for ignoring the clearly painted lines. This is the portrait of a man with no respect for the social contract. Parking within the lines is what separates us from the animals.
I mean, what does he think? That parking spaces are like the federal statutes that he can personally rewrite to satisfy his own partisan whims? Judge Nelson decided that a statute limiting the president from calling in domestic military enforcement unless “the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,” really means the president enjoys a unilateral and unreviewable “range of honest judgment” to decide that an inflatable frog at a protest justifies imposing martial law upon Portland. And he apparently thinks his “two minutes” should “reflect[] a colorable assessment of the facts and law” that trumps the lines we’ve drawn.
Whether or not one believes Nelson’s slapfight (or parking!) deserves judicial discipline, one point Fix the Court makes that should find no argument is that “much like Judge Tom Ludington’s 2025 DUI, the fact that the public only learned about the incident thanks to the press, and months after the fact, doesn’t make Nelson or the Ninth Circuit look great.” Throw in the recent disciplinary decision about Judge Eleanor Ross’s, let’s just call it in camera review, and the effort of her fellow judges to keep her name confidential. There’s a virtue to maintaining confidentiality in an investigation, but these stories read to the public as a judiciary looking to cover for their own.
We’ve watched this exact movie in the Ninth Circuit. When Judge Roger Benitez ordered a marshal to handcuff a crying 13-year-old girl in front of her father — misconduct squarely inside the judicial role unlike whatever game of sunglasses Frisbee golf we’re talking about here — the Ninth Circuit only publicly acknowledged the complaint existed because Above the Law reported it. There’s a way to maintain the presumption of innocence without keeping a whole incident under wraps.
David Lat offered a little more understanding, noting, “as someone who sucks at parking, made a trip to traffic court last year, and doesn’t always have the best temper, I’m not in the best position to judge Judge Nelson.” That said, Professor Hellman flagged the 2018 Wall Street Journal report from Nelson’s confirmation, cataloguing two decades of citations for speeding, blowing through lights and signs, illegal turns, seatbelt violations, driving without proof of insurance, skipping an inspection, and failing to register his vehicle. I’d contend that this is way worse — as a temperament issue — than speeding or missing a red light because those can involve errors in the heat of the moment.
Parking like an asshole is premeditated. Lat may suck at parking (though he’s probably too harsh a critic of his own abilities) but if Lat misses the spot, he’s going to try again! It’s unique among traffic errors in that it can be solved before it has a chance to cause any problems at all.
Parking like this and then choosing to get out and walk away anyway… that is diabolical.
Police: Idaho Falls federal judge knocked off man’s glasses, hurled them across parking lot and stomped on them during confrontation [Idaho State Journal]
Judicial Notice (06.07.26): One Angry Judge [Original Jurisdiction]
Earlier: Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl
Judiciary Tried To Hide ‘Sex In Chambers’ Judge’s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.
Trump Can Now Send SEAL Team 6 To Assassinate Dancing Inflatable Frogs
The post Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson Charged With Battery Over Parking Lot Rumble appeared first on Above the Law.
