A Texas choose who was caught belittling an IT employee in a now-viral video has ordered an legal professional who demanded he apologize over his conduct to seem in courtroom.
Legal professional James Stafford recalled seeing Harris County Choose Nathan Milliron’s outburst on Reddit, the place the Justice of the Peace talked down a technician who had helped him with a pc problem, in response to the pair’s e mail trade obtained by Houston Public Media.
“I hope you issued him an apology for the way in which you handled him,” Stafford wrote. “I hope you had been simply having a foul day and this isn’t your typical judicial temperament. Have an amazing weekend.”
In response, Milliron accused the lawyer of “ex parte” communication and ordered him to seem earlier than him in courtroom. Ex parte communication happens when one get together in a authorized continuing contacts a choose with out the opposite events’ data, in response to the outlet.
“You in all probability shouldn’t be speaking with a Choose, ex parte, on his judicial e-mail deal with,” Milliron wrote. “As an officer of this Court docket, you might be ORDERED to seem earlier than this Court docket on April 10, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. to debate additional.”
The legal professional fired again in a follow-up e mail, arguing he had “no instances in your Court docket, thus this isn’t ex parte however merely a voter exercising one’s freedom of speech regarding what some would contemplate offensive decorum in your courtroom.”
Stafford instructed ABC13 he is not going to seem earlier than Milliron — insisting his e mail calling out the choose’s habits doesn’t qualify as ex parte.
Milliron landed in sizzling water earlier this week after a viral video confirmed him shedding his cool on an IT staffer who was making an attempt to assist him repair an audio downside in his courtroom.
When the employee knowledgeable him the difficulty had been resolved, Milliron turned visibly irritated after the staffer referred to the issue as a “false alarm.”
In an try and lighten the temper, the IT technician known as it a “false unfavourable,” prompting Milliron to curtly thank him earlier than ordering him out of the courtroom.
After the technician left, Milliron ordered somebody off digital camera to “discover his supervisor.”
“Jesus Christ. I’m sick and uninterested in this bulls–t in the present day,” he stated within the viral clip.
As the primary video continued to make rounds on-line, a second clip emerged Tuesday exhibiting Milliron shedding his mood with a protection legal professional mid-hearing in one other tense courtroom trade.
Within the clip, shared on X, Milliron cuts off the legal professional mid-explanation, telling her she’s “losing [his] time this morning.”
The legal professional pushes again, arguing there’s an overlapping problem within the case, however Milliron shuts her down and denies the movement outright.
As she makes an attempt to make her case, Milliron instructs his deputy to take away her from the courtroom — then threatens to have her “cuffed.”
“Jesus Christ, these folks in the present day,” he shouts as she steps again and out of view of the digital camera.
“Step away! You’re about to be cuffed!” he shouts whereas pointing on the lawyer.
Milliron has served on the bench within the 215th District Court docket since January 2025, ABC13 reported.
Whereas his conduct sparked a storm of backlash, his standing as an elected choose shields Milliron from disciplinary motion by native courtroom directors.
Choose Rabeea Collier, the civil courtroom’s administrative choose, launched a press release to the outlet Monday saying the courtroom is conscious of the video.
Collier added that the “Civil Trial Division is dedicated to sustaining a office grounded in respect and to upholding the integrity of the judicial course of.”
