{"id":154062,"date":"2026-06-08T16:07:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/08\/ninth-circuit-judge-ryan-nelson-charged-with-battery-over-parking-lot-rumble\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T16:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:07:41","slug":"ninth-circuit-judge-ryan-nelson-charged-with-battery-over-parking-lot-rumble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/06\/08\/ninth-circuit-judge-ryan-nelson-charged-with-battery-over-parking-lot-rumble\/","title":{"rendered":"Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson Charged With Battery Over Parking Lot Rumble"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit has been charged with misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property<\/a> after an April confrontation in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended, per police, with Judge Nelson swiping a man\u2019s 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\u2019s not exactly a Jets vs. Sharks battle. Or, frankly, maybe it is \u2014 in that the level of fighting on display didn\u2019t rise much beyond Broadway levels. What allegedly set Nelson off was the other man saying \u2014 twice \u2014 \u201cLearn how to park.\u201d<\/p>\n

And folks\u2026 this guy really<\/em> needs to learn how to park.<\/p>\n

By \u201callegedly,\u201d we mean that it was allegedly Judge Nelson, because the video of the incident acquired by the Idaho Statesman is pretty definitive that someone<\/em> 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<\/a>, based on the ethical demand that a judge out of a robe is still bound to \u201cmaintain [\u2026] high standards of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Arthur Hellman provides a detailed account of the requirements under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act<\/a>, drawing upon a two-decades-old order<\/a> 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 \u201ca one-time private dispute between private citizens, one of whom happens to be a judge.\u201d That said, the order also notes conflicting accounts of the incident as opposed to the clear video and audio here.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> and that could contribute to everyone showing frayed emotions. Though we don\u2019t even need to get into the circumstances surrounding the fight itself because you know what should<\/em> be disqualifying for a judge?<\/p>\n

Parking like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"
What the hell is THAT?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019s not even the failure to stay within the lines \u2014 bad though that is \u2014 but placing this space-hogging land yacht\u2019s whole ass end out in the middle of the lane is truly unforgivable. <\/p>\n

He also thinks he can park like a he\u2019s the only driver who matters because \u2014 as the voice in the video says \u2014 \u201cI\u2019ve been here for two minutes.\u201d Under that logic, one could Tokyo drift into three handicapped spots at the grocery store as long as you\u2019re going to be quick about it. Unearned entitlement doesn\u2019t come with a temporal grace period. <\/p>\n

I get that this is Idaho Falls, meaning that the other driver had a functionally infinite supply of alternative spots available that wouldn\u2019t involve docking his own tub next to the judge\u2019s truck. But that\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

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<\/a>? Judge Nelson decided that a statute limiting the president from calling in domestic military enforcement unless \u201cthe President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,\u201d really means the president enjoys a unilateral and unreviewable \u201crange of honest judgment\u201d to decide that an inflatable frog at a protest justifies imposing martial law upon Portland. And he apparently thinks his \u201ctwo minutes\u201d should \u201creflect[] a colorable assessment of the facts and law\u201d that trumps the lines we\u2019ve drawn.<\/p>\n

Whether or not one believes Nelson\u2019s slapfight (or parking!) deserves judicial discipline, one point Fix the Court makes that should find no argument is that \u201cmuch like Judge Tom Ludington\u2019s 2025 DUI, the fact that\u00a0the public only learned about the incident thanks to the press, and months after the fact, doesn\u2019t make Nelson or the Ninth Circuit look great.\u201d Throw in the recent disciplinary decision about Judge Eleanor Ross\u2019s, let\u2019s just call it in camera<\/em> review<\/a>, and the effort of her fellow judges to keep her name confidential. There\u2019s a virtue to maintaining confidentiality in an investigation, but these stories read to the public as a judiciary looking to cover for their own.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve watched this exact movie in the Ninth Circuit. When Judge Roger Benitez ordered a marshal to handcuff a crying 13-year-old girl<\/a> in front of her father \u2014 misconduct squarely inside<\/em> the judicial role unlike whatever game of sunglasses Frisbee golf we\u2019re talking about here \u2014 the Ninth Circuit only publicly acknowledged the complaint existed because Above the Law<\/em> reported it<\/a>. There\u2019s a way to maintain the presumption of innocence without keeping a whole incident under wraps.<\/p>\n

David Lat offered a little more understanding<\/a>, noting, \u201cas someone who sucks at parking, made a trip to\u00a0traffic court<\/a>\u00a0last year, and doesn\u2019t always have the best temper, I\u2019m not in the best position to judge Judge Nelson.\u201d That said, Professor Hellman flagged the 2018 Wall Street Journal report<\/a> from Nelson\u2019s 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\u2019d contend that this is way worse \u2014 as a temperament issue \u2014 than speeding or missing a red light because those can involve errors in the heat of the moment. <\/p>\n

Parking like an asshole is premeditated<\/em>. Lat may suck at parking (though he\u2019s probably too harsh a critic of his own abilities) but if Lat misses the spot, he\u2019s going to try again! It\u2019s unique among traffic errors in that it can be solved before it has a chance to cause any problems at all.<\/p>\n

Parking like this and then<\/em> choosing to get out and walk away anyway\u2026 that is diabolical. <\/p>\n

Police: Idaho Falls federal judge knocked off man\u2019s glasses, hurled them across parking lot and stomped on them during confrontation<\/a> [Idaho State Journal]
Judicial Notice (06.07.26): One Angry Judge<\/a> [Original Jurisdiction]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl<\/a>
Judiciary Tried To Hide \u2018Sex In Chambers\u2019 Judge\u2019s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.<\/a>
Trump Can Now Send SEAL Team 6 To Assassinate Dancing Inflatable Frogs<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson Charged With Battery Over Parking Lot Rumble<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit has been charged with misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property<\/a> after an April confrontation in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended, per police, with Judge Nelson swiping a man\u2019s 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\u2019s not exactly a Jets vs. Sharks battle. Or, frankly, maybe it is \u2014 in that the level of fighting on display didn\u2019t rise much beyond Broadway levels. What allegedly set Nelson off was the other man saying \u2014 twice \u2014 \u201cLearn how to park.\u201d<\/p>\n

And folks\u2026 this guy really<\/em> needs to learn how to park.<\/p>\n

By \u201callegedly,\u201d we mean that it was allegedly Judge Nelson, because the video of the incident acquired by the Idaho Statesman is pretty definitive that someone<\/em> 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<\/a>, based on the ethical demand that a judge out of a robe is still bound to \u201cmaintain [\u2026] high standards of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Arthur Hellman provides a detailed account of the requirements under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act<\/a>, drawing upon a two-decades-old order<\/a> 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 \u201ca one-time private dispute between private citizens, one of whom happens to be a judge.\u201d That said, the order also notes conflicting accounts of the incident as opposed to the clear video and audio here.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> and that could contribute to everyone showing frayed emotions. Though we don\u2019t even need to get into the circumstances surrounding the fight itself because you know what should<\/em> be disqualifying for a judge?<\/p>\n

Parking like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"
What the hell is THAT?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019s not even the failure to stay within the lines \u2014 bad though that is \u2014 but placing this space-hogging land yacht\u2019s whole ass end out in the middle of the lane is truly unforgivable. <\/p>\n

He also thinks he can park like a he\u2019s the only driver who matters because \u2014 as the voice in the video says \u2014 \u201cI\u2019ve been here for two minutes.\u201d Under that logic, one could Tokyo drift into three handicapped spots at the grocery store as long as you\u2019re going to be quick about it. Unearned entitlement doesn\u2019t come with a temporal grace period. <\/p>\n

I get that this is Idaho Falls, meaning that the other driver had a functionally infinite supply of alternative spots available that wouldn\u2019t involve docking his own tub next to the judge\u2019s truck. But that\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

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<\/a>? Judge Nelson decided that a statute limiting the president from calling in domestic military enforcement unless \u201cthe President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,\u201d really means the president enjoys a unilateral and unreviewable \u201crange of honest judgment\u201d to decide that an inflatable frog at a protest justifies imposing martial law upon Portland. And he apparently thinks his \u201ctwo minutes\u201d should \u201creflect[] a colorable assessment of the facts and law\u201d that trumps the lines we\u2019ve drawn.<\/p>\n

Whether or not one believes Nelson\u2019s slapfight (or parking!) deserves judicial discipline, one point Fix the Court makes that should find no argument is that \u201cmuch like Judge Tom Ludington\u2019s 2025 DUI, the fact that\u00a0the public only learned about the incident thanks to the press, and months after the fact, doesn\u2019t make Nelson or the Ninth Circuit look great.\u201d Throw in the recent disciplinary decision about Judge Eleanor Ross\u2019s, let\u2019s just call it in camera<\/em> review<\/a>, and the effort of her fellow judges to keep her name confidential. There\u2019s a virtue to maintaining confidentiality in an investigation, but these stories read to the public as a judiciary looking to cover for their own.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve watched this exact movie in the Ninth Circuit. When Judge Roger Benitez ordered a marshal to handcuff a crying 13-year-old girl<\/a> in front of her father \u2014 misconduct squarely inside<\/em> the judicial role unlike whatever game of sunglasses Frisbee golf we\u2019re talking about here \u2014 the Ninth Circuit only publicly acknowledged the complaint existed because Above the Law<\/em> reported it<\/a>. There\u2019s a way to maintain the presumption of innocence without keeping a whole incident under wraps.<\/p>\n

David Lat offered a little more understanding<\/a>, noting, \u201cas someone who sucks at parking, made a trip to\u00a0traffic court<\/a>\u00a0last year, and doesn\u2019t always have the best temper, I\u2019m not in the best position to judge Judge Nelson.\u201d That said, Professor Hellman flagged the 2018 Wall Street Journal report<\/a> from Nelson\u2019s 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\u2019d contend that this is way worse \u2014 as a temperament issue \u2014 than speeding or missing a red light because those can involve errors in the heat of the moment. <\/p>\n

Parking like an asshole is premeditated<\/em>. Lat may suck at parking (though he\u2019s probably too harsh a critic of his own abilities) but if Lat misses the spot, he\u2019s going to try again! It\u2019s unique among traffic errors in that it can be solved before it has a chance to cause any problems at all.<\/p>\n

Parking like this and then<\/em> choosing to get out and walk away anyway\u2026 that is diabolical. <\/p>\n

Police: Idaho Falls federal judge knocked off man\u2019s glasses, hurled them across parking lot and stomped on them during confrontation<\/a> [Idaho State Journal]
Judicial Notice (06.07.26): One Angry Judge<\/a> [Original Jurisdiction]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl<\/a>
Judiciary Tried To Hide \u2018Sex In Chambers\u2019 Judge\u2019s Name. It Left A Roadmap To Identify Eleanor Ross Instead.<\/a>
Trump Can Now Send SEAL Team 6 To Assassinate Dancing Inflatable Frogs<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson Charged With Battery Over Parking Lot Rumble<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s sunglasses off his face, hurling them across the asphalt, running after the man trying to pick them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":154063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-08-at-6.19.02-AM-1024x706-w65V8M.png?fit=1024%2C706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}