Harris County Courthouse in downtown Houston, Texas, USA on a sunny day.
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A viral video of a Harris County judge berating a courthouse IT worker is drawing sharp criticism from the local legal community, with the head of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association saying the behavior crossed a clear line.
“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,” the association’s president, Brent Mayr said in a video statement. “There is no question that judges should not act like that.”
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The video, which has circulated widely on social media, shows District Court Judge Nathan Milliron ordering the IT worker out of the courtroom after a brief back-and-forth over an audio issue.
“Don’t joke around,” Milliron said in the video after the tech employee described the issue as a false alarm. “Get out of my courtroom… Find his supervisor, Jesus Christ, I’m sick and tired of this bull****.”
The controversy didn’t end with the viral clip.
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“One of our members wrote to the judge to let him know that is not how a judge should treat people and demanded an apology to the employee,” Mayr added.
As first reported by the Houston Chronicle, attorney James Stafford criticized the judge’s behavior in an email—prompting Milliron to order him to appear in court over what the judge described as an “ex parte” communication—a message between a judge and a legal party that occurs without the knowledge of other parties.
Chron has reached out to Judge Milliron and Stafford for comment, but has not heard back. The Chronicle, however, reported that the judge told the newspaper he would not be “talking with the press about this issue.”
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Some attorneys say that interpretation stretches the definition of ex parte communication well beyond its typical meaning.
Charles “Big Angry” Adams, a Houston defense attorney who previously served for years as a presiding judge in the City of South Houston, said criticism of a judge’s conduct is not the same as attempting to privately influence a legal case.
“Being critical about a judge’s behavior is not at all an ex parte communication,” he said. “We have a free speech right to say whatever we want.”
Adams said judges are expected to follow the Texas judicial conduct rules requiring “patience, dignity and courtesy” in the courtroom—standards he said were not reflected in the video.
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He also warned against judges using their authority outside of active cases.
“You can’t use your authority as a judge to wade into matters not pending in front of you and suggest you’re going to take judicial action against people,” Adams said. “That’s completely beyond the pale.”
While tense exchanges sometimes happen in courtrooms, Adams said judges operate under stricter expectations than most public officials.
“Judges sacrifice their free speech rights to a degree to serve,” he said. “Everything you do, everything you say in the public eye has to conform with the canons of judicial conduct.”
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Despite the broader legal questions raised by the judge’s response to the attorney’s email, Adams said the moment caught on video still stands out.
“The least problematic one is his interaction with the IT worker, but I also find it the most offensive,” he said. “An IT worker is just a guy there to help… I didn’t get the sense he was anything other than helpful.”