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Viral video of a Texas judge speaking dismissively to an IT worker spread on social media
In response to the video, a local attorney reportedly emailed the judge, saying he hoped he apologized after the encounter
The judge reportedly replied to the email, ordering the attorney to appear in court as a result
A viral video showing a Texas judge rudely speaking to an IT employee has led to backlash from local attorneys.
Video of the encounter spread on social media, and showed Harris County District Judge Nathan Milliron snapping at the IT worker after he helped him with an apparent audio issue.
The IT employee quickly resolves the issue and tells the judge, “False alarm.”
“No, it is not a false alarm,” Milliron says, to which the man then says, “False negative,” and laughs.
Milliron then assertively said not to joke around and told the worker, “Get out of my courtroom.”
The judge then asks who the other man’s supervisor is and says, “I’m sick and tried of this bulls— today.”
After the video circulated widely, Houston attorney James Stafford emailed Milliron, asking that he apologize to the worker, according to KTRK, Click2Houston and Houston Public Media.
“I hope you issued him an apology for how you treated him,” Stafford wrote in the reported email. “I hope you were just having a bad day and this is not your typical judicial temperament.”
In response to the email, Milliron wrote back that Stafford was “communicating with a Judge, ex parte” and ordered that he appear in court as a result.
Stafford reportedly responded saying that he had no cases in front of Milliron and was merely expressing his opinion.
Milliron’s response to Stafford drew condemnation from the president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, Brent Mayr, who released a video statement on social media.
“This is a frightening, frightening precedent,” Mayr said in the video.
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Mayr said the association’s concern was whether Milliron was “really going to issue some legal process” to compel Stafford to appear in court.
“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,” Mayr said.
Milliron was elected as a district judge in 2024.
Read the original article on People