Disability Law, Edward Nottingham, Federal Judges, Judge of the Day, Rudeness

Chief Judge Nottingham Likes Strippers; Handicapped People, Not So Much

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Remember Chief Judge Edward Nottingham (D. Colorado)? We named him our Judge of the Day back in August, after he reportedly “was too drunk to remember how he spent more than $3,000 at a strip club in two consecutive days.” We subsequently honored him as our Paulie Walnuts Doppelgänger of the Day.
We are hereby declaring Judge Nottingham ineligible for future Judge of the Day contests. Like the Honorable Elizabeth Halverson, he has transcended the competition, joining the Judge of the Day Hall of Fame.
Read about his latest misadventures, in the ABA Journal:

A Denver lawyer has filed a complaint claiming the chief judge of the Colorado federal courts threatened to call authorities when she confronted him about parking in a handicapped space.

The lawyer, Jeanne Elliott, was paralyzed in 1986 when she was shot by an angry litigant. She told KUSA in Denver that she waited in her wheelchair behind the illegally parked SUV outside a Walgreens. Judge Edward Nottingham arrived and threatened to call the U.S. Marshals service when she didn’t move, according to her grievance (PDF) filed with the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He later called 911.

More after the jump.


There appears to be some factual basis for Elliott’s grievance. In the court of public opinion, Judge Nottingham has entered his plea:

Nottingham issued a statement (PDF) that reads in part: “Judge Nottingham regrets parking in a handicapped space in his haste to pick up a prescription at a local Walgreens, but respectfully disagrees with the remainder of Ms. Elliott’s version of this incident.”

Parking in a handicapped spot, then threatening to sic the U.S. Marshals on the wheelchair-bound woman who calls you out on it? What was Chief Judge Nottingham thinking? If this is his attempt to get recused from ADA cases, surely there has to be a better way.
Perhaps this Nottingham needs a Sheriff, to protect him from his own bad judgment? That might be a better use of a U.S. Marshal than bullying a paralyzed woman.
Chief Judge Accused in Handicapped Parking Spat [ABA Journal]
Chief Colorado Federal Court Judge Hogs Handicapped Parking Spot, then Pulls Rank [Blogonaut]
Earlier: Prior coverage of Judge Edward Nottingham (scroll down)

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