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The Criminal Charges Against Judge Ryan Nelson: How Should the Judiciary Respond?

A guest post from Professor Arthur Hellman.

Josh Blackman | 6.7.2026 5:49 PM

I am happy to pass along this post from Professor Arthur Hellman, concerning Judge Ryan Nelson's parking lot altercation, which I wrote about here:

Over the weekend, Bloomberg Law reported that Judge Ryan D. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been charged with misdemeanor battery for his actions in an April 2 altercation with a man in a parking lot in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Judge Nelson has also been charged with malicious injury to property – the "property" being the glasses of the other man, which Judge Nelson allegedly knocked off and stomped on. The altercation apparently began when the other man said (twice) to Judge Nelson: "Learn how to park."

The Idaho State Journal published video of the incident and also a more detailed account of the episode. A pretrial conference is scheduled for June 18.

In the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act of 1980 (JCDA), Congress established a process for dealing with complaints that a federal judge "has engaged in conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or alleging that such judge is unable to discharge all the duties of office by reason of mental or physical disability." Judge Nelson's alleged conduct would arguably support a finding of misconduct under the JCDA; it may also implicate the provision dealing with disability. How should the judiciary respond to this report?

Under the Act,........

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