Judge of the Day: Robert C. Nalley
Speaking of judges with tempers… From the Washington Post:
A Charles County judge is under investigation for allegedly letting the air out of the tire of a car belonging to a woman who works as a part-time cleaning worker at the courthouse, according to the car owner and sources familiar with the incident.Two county sheriff’s jail officers said they saw Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley letting the air out of the back right tire of a 2004 Toyota Corolla parked just outside the La Plata courthouse about 3:45 p.m. Monday, according to the two sources.
Apparently, the woman had taken Nalley’s spot:
Jean Washington, the owner of the Toyota, said in an interview that she had just entered the courthouse for her work shift when a sheriff’s deputy alerted her, “Jean, you need to move your car. Judge Nalley’s going to let the air out of it.”Washington, 51, said she rushed out and moved her car to a different parking lot, farther from the courthouse. When she pulled into another parking spot, another sheriff’s deputy told her that her rear passenger tire was flat, Washington said.
Judge Nalley, we kind of love you. That’s what you get for taking a judge’s parking spot, cleaner lady!
Unfortunately, Nalley may not be entitled to his parking spot righteousness.
Cleaner lady Washington told the Washington Post that the spot is not marked as Nalley’s or anyone else’s. It just had a sign saying “Restricted Parking Only.”
Nalley is not being a pansy about this and trying to deny it — which would be difficult to do since one of the officers who spotted him filmed him with a cellphone — but he is trying to justify it. Nalley told the The Independent that his parking spot being stolen was a recurring problem:
“Absolutely, I plead guilty,” said Charles County Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Nalley.The judge said someone parked in the restricted area repeatedly, even though Nalley had left notes and deflated the person’s tire on previous occasions. Instead of inconveniencing the vehicle’s driver by calling police and having the vehicle towed, Nalley simply let the air out of one tire Monday, he said.
“I noticed the car is not there for the first time in several days,” Nalley said Tuesday.
Oh yeah, street justice! Works every time.
One ATL reader sent this story along, noting:
I’ve appeared before this judge. He has quite a reputation.
Is it a reputation for being a badass? In a follow-up story by the Post, his supervisor says Nalley thinks everyone just needs to chill out about this:
A Charles County judge suspected of deflating a tire on a car parked near the courthouse admitted the action to his supervisor Wednesday and said he didn’t think it was a “big deal,” the supervisor said.
Jon Katz, who regularly occasionally appears in Nalley’s courthouse, thinks it is a big deal though:
In any event, what kind of criminal prosecution does Judge Nalley’s admitted action exposes him to? Possibly the misdemeanor of reckless endangerment. Possibly attempted destruction of property for any reason a deflated tire could have led to damage to the tire or car; for the choate Maryland crime of property destruction, it appears that a conviction can be obtained for reasonably foreseeable destruction of property that is proximately caused by an intentional act — In re Taka C., 331 Md. 80, 626 A.2d 366 (1993). Possibly criminal harassment, depending on the wording of the county’s criminal harassment code provision. If there is any prosecution, so long as Judge Nalley remains on the bench, I surmise that the state prosecutor’s office, a different county prosecutor’s office, or a specially-appointed private practitioner would handle a prosecution. I do not think the admitted facts justify a prosecution of anybody, and doubt that an accident was likely with the air being released from just one tire, but all the time we see police and prosecutors overcharging and overprosecuting.Of course, Judge Nalley also faces the risk of penalties to his professional position, and his reputation is now on the line from this story. For instance, the regional chief administrative judge, William Missouri, told the Washington Post: “As judges, all we have is the public’s trust … If we lose that trust, we have nothing. I can assure you, [trust] will be maintained.”
C’mon, Katz. Why do you have to deflate the fun of this story?
Charles County Judge Suspected of Deflating Worker’s Tire [Washington Post]
Judge Says Deflating Tire On Car Wasn’t ‘Big Deal’ [Washington Post]
Judge ‘guilty’ in tire deflation over parking [The Independent]
Why would a judge let air out of someone’s tire? [Katz Justice]
Judges Behaving Badly [Blogonaut]
(59) Comments
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First to say . . . .so???
Jon Katz, you forgot to mention Restatement 90.
What's the problem? This is worse than having the car towed?
Latham NY laid off more than half the first year class only four months after they started.
Latham LA laid off a third of the first year class only four months after they started.
Latham DC laid off 25% of the first year class only four months after they started.
You had a better chance of surviving the black plague than as a first year associate at Latham NY.
Newbies coming into Latham: Enjoy the double dip recession. Good luck not getting Lathamed.
Inappropriate (and juvenile) behavior for anyone, but for a judge! That's dispicable and possibly inviolation of judicial ethics.
What is a "choate" crime?
5: You might want to learn how to spell "despicable" before you potentially pass the bar someday and actually have to demonstrate on-the-job literacy. (I bet you also spell "ridiculous" with an 'e.')
PE tweet of the morning:
I buy the NYT Sunday edition only to peruse the colorful advertisement inserts. The rest is rubbish that doesn't deserve to be recycled.
He only let the air out of one tire? She should have had four flats.
@ 6
Isn't it, doing an underage boarding school girl who swore she was a senior, but turned out to be 16?
8
What's his twitter name?
7 -
That's rediculous. I know how to spell.
5
Katz.........SERIOUSLY????
I don't blame the judge here, this is to be expected if you pull this kind of crap parking all willy-nilly in front of the courthouse.
I am so SICK of reading about PE here and reading his twitters that I don't know what to do with myself any more!! Why doesn't he just go somewhere else and write about his life where somebody MAYBE cares about it? I swear that I never read so much stuff about somebody that I did not care a whit about.
Is writing a brief in oppossition of cert that no one will ever read really that big of a deal? You make it sound like 3 law students got a case on the SCOTUS docket. Maybe this is a big deal if you go to Capital Law School.
I can't find PE on twitter. Please help.
7: Bar passed- NY actually.
Why don't you get a life since being a spelling nazi doesn't qualify.
-5.
"Judge Nalley, we kind of love you. That's what you get for taking a judge's parking spot, cleaner lady!"
What kind of dick sides with an immature judicial asshole over a person being paid minimum wage to clean toilets?
@18
Someone who aspires to be a judge one day.
12- you're a douche. At least have the brain capacity to come up with an original though.
-the "real" 5.
12- you're a douche. At least have the brain capacity to come up with an original thought.
-the "real" 5.
18 -
I bet your commie tears make a great all-purpose cleaning solution.
"Deflate the fun of this story!" I get it! That was such a good pun!
I can picture the thought process that went into that last line of the article:
Kash: "Where can I insert a witty pun into this story?"
Elie: "What's a witty bun?"
Kash: "You're always thinking about food Elie. You need to deflate that spare tire of yours."
Elie: "Well you just deflated my feelings."
Kash: "That's it! You can deflate anything, even fun! I just thought of a great pun to insert at the end of the article!"
Worst. Shit. Ever.
Seems like prosecution under any statute would be too extreme, but can't the ethics committee (or whatever they call it in Maryland) impose some sort of "Don't be an immature asshole" punishment/censure? I'd expect this kind of behavior from ordinary folks, but judges are supposed to rise above such petty trivialities.
May be out of line for a judge, but for mere mortals it's perfectly understandable. Few things are as infuriating as arriving home or to work and finding your parking spot occupied. Air out of tires is child's play, parking these inconsiderate assholes deserve much worse.
22 - Explain to me how abusive petty behavior by a state official coincides with capitalism and not say, for example, Soviet Russia, Cuba, etc...
26 - I think 22 was referring to the fact that 18 (you) immediately sided with someone because they make less money, implying that they have some sort of disgust with our capitalist economic system.
Also what is "Soviet Russia?" It's either the Soviet Union, or Russia.
26, it's more like the fact that you (18) think a person's minimum wage salary has anything to do with whether she should be allowed to park in restricting parking areas.
27 28
You forgot all things that have been earned need to be redistributed according to the President.
Judge Nalley deserves to be disciplined for his misconduct. He should have handled the situation like a professional. This incident reminds me of a time when someone parked their van in my spot at the garage near the office. I promptly called a tow truck and the tow truck driver indicated to me that the van had a handicap decal. I then instructed the tow truck driver that the operator of the van may have a handicap for stupidity but he/she could clearly see the sign that read "Reserved for Partner Emeritus." Needless to say the van was removed. There was no need to scratch the car or deflate tires. Judge Nalley, although you are not a peer and could never equal my record as an attorney, perhaps you can endeavor to emulate my behavior when faced with that problem next time.
I've heard people say Soviet Russia before.
Hilarious that 27 (me) and 28 (not me) are pretty much identical in mocking 26.
31 - I've heard people say it before too, it doesn't mean they were correct.
Partner Emeritus, I am officially a fan. Your posts are splendid. And a great pic--no homo.
33, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic
This happened to me quite frequently in my early legal career, when judges deflated the tires of my Jaguar after I had their rulings reversed on appeal. Naturally, I immediately reported them to the proper authorities, because tire deflation as a result of an overturned ruling is a violation of applicable judicial ethics standards. Oftentimes the offending judge would approach me later and ask for foregiveness, after realizing the wrongfulness of his ways. However, to this day I remain cold and unforgiving to these despicable individuals, who seemingly do not understand that the key to good gas mileage is properly inflated tires.
- Partner Emeritus
http://twitter.com/PartnerEmeritus
Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission is going to have something to say on this one. The next part of the story is that the Judge apologized to the Circuit Administrative Judge. Not for his actions, but for failing to inform the Administrative Judge in a timely manner of the fact that he took these actions. It's nearly certain that he'll face a term of suspension from the bench. The problem is that this is a small county in Southern Maryland and if they lose a judge, their docket will just backlog.
33
Just becasue you're breathing doesn't mean you're smart. Soviet Russia=Communist Russia.
9, you are right on. In fact, it is hilarious that he'd already gotten to the car when she finally decided to move. He deserves to be bought a drink. And the citizens and lawyers of that jurisdication deserve not to have resources wasted on this BS.
33/35 - I am aware of the existence of the Soviet Republics. Thank you for attemping to demonstrate your intelligence via Wikipedia. If you were attempting to list communist countries however, why pick that particular republic? Does it hold a special place in your heart?
the only way this article is interesting is if you assume that judges are not expected to engage in such behavior. i think your contracts prof wants your statement of the case in hadley, better stop reading ATL!
41
I asked my friend who immigrated from Soviet/Communist Russia. I find her to be a better source than you (and much hotter). . . asshole.
@38--I'm sorry to say that the Md Judicial Disabilities Commission will do nothing. They never do.
@44 - Judge Bruce Lamdin. Wiki it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_soviet_russia#Russian_reversal
Why not just have her towed??? Yes the judge's actions were immature but the spot did say "restricted parking" (which she repeatedly disregarded).
sounds like a bankruptcy judge who blocked me into his unmarked parking space when i took it by mistake once in 1975, are all judges retards?
Judges can have attitude problems and this just proves it. I hope he takes a whole lot of flack about this. Giving the woman the benefit of the doubt, if she is an employee and the sign didn't say 'reserved for sheriff's office' or 'reserved for judge nalley' or something, it is possible she really thought any employee could park there. That aside, how about the judge simply try to resolve the problem by speaking with the woman first? I'm really tired of the legal elite, be it judges or highly paid attorneys, thinking they can do whatever they want. Such a shame so many others don't see a problem with this. It may not be the biggest deal in the world, but come on people, this is a judge acting this way. He deserves discipline!
"C'mon, Katz. Why do you have to deflate the fun of this story?"
C'mon Kash, you're usually pretty solid, but this is a really weak line.
Outrageous. This guy needs to step down from the bench. He has displayed incredibly poor judgment.
43 - Did you meet her via FedEx?
She wasn't parked in his space, she was parked in a no-parking space. It's no parking because the sheriffs need to be able to back up when they take prisoners back to jail.
She's an idiot or a liar or both about not knowing she couldn't park there, there are literally 100 signs that say "permit parking only" or "no parking" (ok, not literally). Yes, he shouldn't have done it, but you gotta know the guy. It's classic Nalley!
This Mr. Katz dude doesn't regularly practice in charles county. He has 6 cases there, according to the Maryland Judiciary Case Search, and 5 of those are closed.
To all you wackos siding with the Judge:
You are being too kind to the bleeding heart people siding with this wretched minimum-wage earning nothing govenment worker. I think that she should be fired and lined up and shot for her taking somebody else's spot. You don't know understand how big of a deal this is. I mean, it's freaking harder to find a spot in this small town in Maryland than it is in Manhattan. The judge couldn't possibly have parked a block or two away because he's a big-time, important person. Judges are big deals.
I'd rather re-inflate my tire than have to go pick up my car at the tow lot and shell out $$$. This guy did her a favor by letting the air out instead of a tow.
You guys need to chill out.
but of course, had the cleaner woman let the air out of the judge's tires, she'd be in jail. I doubt the police officer would have stopped to videotape her either.
the md judicial disabilities commission does nothing. they aspire to be judges one day.
there are abusive judges all over the place here.
45 (57 here)
yeah they do things randomly. there are far more abusive judges out there than anything lamdin ever did.
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Hammerman_Robert.html
thats half the story
disabilities commission never did anything.
It should not be assumed that this is an isolated event. This judge has displayed sheer arrogance and disdain throughout his tenure on the bench. True justice would be served by his swift removal. Enough already!!