‘Get Out of My Courtroom!’: Texas Judge Hit with Backlash for Belittling IT Worker Who Told Him There Wasn’t Tech Issue in Viral Video
A Texas judge is going viral and drawing intense criticism from local attorneys for a courtroom outburst aimed at an information technology employee.
An undated clip of Harris County Judge Nathan Milliron in a heated exchange with an IT worker he called to help him with an apparent audio issue.
When the employee looks over Milliron’s equipment, he sees there is no tech issue and tells the judge, “You’re good. False alarm.”
But Milliron isn’t happy with that assessment.
“No, it wasn’t a false alarm,” Milliron says, irritated.
“False negative,” the employee jokes while giggling.
“Don’t joke around. I’m serious about this,” Milliron replies. “It was happening.”
“I understand. I’m just saying, I can’t see it, sir,” the IT worker says.
“We’re good. Thank you. Get out of my courtroom,” Milliron responds dismissively.
The judge’s gaze stays on the IT worker as he exits the courtroom, then Milliron tells someone off-camera, “Find his supervisor. Jesus Christ. Sick and tired of this bulls—t today.”
After local attorneys caught wind of the video when it circulated online, one criminal defense attorney reached out to Milliron personally to chastise him for his conduct and urge him to apologize to the IT employee.
“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,” attorney James Stafford wrote to Milliron in an email, per KPRC.
Milliron responded: “You probably shouldn’t be communicating with the judge ex parte on his judicial email address,” then ordered him to appear in his courtroom on April 10 to discuss the matter further.
Brent Mayr, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, said that the judge’s behavior in the video and his email response to Stafford were out of line.
“The way he is treating that employee is disrespectful and it’s appalling,” Mayr said. “Anytime anyone is going to criticize this judge… are they going to get called in front of that judge… because the judge doesn’t like what they say? That violates our First Amendment rights.”
When asked whether there were any complaints about Milliron’s conduct, the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct released this statement:
“Please be advised that due to confidentiality laws that govern the release of information from this agency, the only documents we would be able to provide in response to such a request would be documents associated with a public disciplinary action taken against a judge. No prior or current public discipline has been taken against the judge, subject of your inquiry, therefore, we have no documents or records that are responsive to your request.”