Via Facebook
A campaign photo of Harris County District Judge Nathan Milliron.
The president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association is condemning the actions of Harris County District Judge Nathan Milliron — captured in a video that went viral over the weekend — and claiming the judge is now going after a well-known Houston attorney.
In a social media video Tuesday, the association’s president, Brent Mayr, criticized the judge.
“By now, many of you have seen or heard about this Harris County judge treating a court staff employee in an absolutely inappropriate and humiliating manner,” Mayr said. “There is no question that judges should not act like that.”
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Over the weekend, a clip of Judge Milliron being impolite to an IT employee went viral.
“Don’t joke around,” Milliron said in the video. “Get out of my courtroom… Find his supervisor, Jesus Christ, I’m sick and tired of this bull…”
Mayr also confirmed Tuesday that Houston attorney James Stafford had emailed Milliron, asking the judge to apologize to the county staffer. But in response to the email, Milliron ordered Stafford to appear in his courtroom next month.
According to Mayr, Milliron accused Stafford of ex parte communication — a one-sided communication between a judge and only one party of a legal proceeding.
Mayr told Houston Public Media Tuesday that Milliron’s actions against Stafford could be a violation of the lawyer’s First Amendment rights.
“This is a frightening, frightening precedent,” Mayr said. “That’s what our biggest concern is here, is whether this judge is really going to issue some legal process to bring Mr. Stafford before him to answer for his comments.”
The Houston Chronicle first reported the email exchange between Stafford and Milliron. Houston Public Media independently obtained a copy of the email exchange.
In his email to Milliron, Stafford said, “Judge, just viewed your incident in your courtroom on Reddit with the IT guy who you addressed your problem that you were having. I hope you issued him an apology for the way you treated him. I hope you were just having a bad day and this is not your typical judicial temperament. Have a great weekend.”
Milliron responded to Stafford, accusing him of ex parte.
“You probably shouldn’t be communicating with a Judge, ex parte, on his judicial e-mail address,” Milliron wrote via email. “As an officer of this Court, you are ORDERED to appear before this Court on April 10, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. to discuss further.”
Stafford told Milliron he had no cases in the judge’s court and was just expressing his opinion as a voter.
“Maybe there is a back story of why your [sic] responded the way you did to him, if not, as you put it, ‘I’m tired of the BS today,’ I am sure he was tired of the BS as well for merely doing his job,” Stafford wrote via email. “The video speaks for it self [sic] and needs no explaining. Maybe you should send the video to the Commission on Judicial Conduct for their review. If they have no issues with it then I offer an apology for criticizing your judicial temperament. Nonetheless, have a great weekend.“
Stafford’s law office declined to comment further regarding the issue.
Mayr said the Criminal Lawyers Association will be there in court in support of Stafford.
“The Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association will be there in support of James and in support of our valuable constitutional rights, including our First Amendment right to free speech that thousands of people like you are exercising by calling this judge out for his bad behavior. Stay tuned for more,” Mayr said in the social media video.
The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct oversees judges. Mayr said anyone can file a complaint with the commission. Mayr told Houston Public Media that the association had not decided whether or not to file a complaint yet.
“Now, the commission, I expect they’re going to have their eyes all over this, and they’re going to have to take some action,” Mayr said. “This judge’s behavior definitely crosses the line, and it’s exactly what the commission is trying to rein in.”
According to Mayr, the commission can issue a range of punishments against judges, from a private reprimand to, in rare cases, removal from office. Milliron, a Republican, won his election by less than 400 votes in 2024.
“This is bad behavior. I think it needs to be called out with at least some sort of public admonishment,” Mayr said. “We all should expect better from our judges.”
The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the viral clip. Judge Milliron’s office also did not respond to a request for comment regarding either the viral clip or correspondence with Stafford.
Murray Newman, a Houston-area defense attorney and former president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, told Houston Public Media Tuesday he had not been aware of Milliron before the clip went viral, but thinks the conduct displayed in the clip is unbecoming of a judge.
“Mostly all of us criminal attorneys, we have some complaints about our judges on occasion, but nothing like this guy,” Newman said. “There’s an old saying that they talk about judges that get ‘black robe disease’ and this is pretty much one of the worst cases I’ve seen of it.”
It was a mistake to target Stafford, an attorney who has worked in the area for decades, Newman said.
“James [Stafford], he’s a very distinguished, highly respected and well-loved member of our community on both the prosecution and the defense,” Newman said. “We’re not going to let him be mean to James.”