Ryan Douglas Nelson

Ryan Douglas Nelson is an active United States circuit judge on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Donald J. Trump in 2018, he has served on the federal appellate bench since receiving his commission that October. Prior to joining the judiciary, Nelson accumulated experience as a law clerk, private‑practice attorney, and senior government lawyer, and he held the position of general counsel for a publicly traded company. His career also includes an unconfirmed nomination to serve as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

Early life and legal career

Nelson was born in 1973 and raised in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He pursued undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English literature in 1996. Continuing at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, he graduated with honors in 1999, attaining membership in the Order of the Coif and serving as lead articles editor of the law review. While still a student, Nelson clerked for Thomas B. Griffith, then Senate Legal Counsel, assisting in preparation for the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton.

Following graduation, Nelson completed a series of judicial clerkships that provided exposure to both domestic appellate work and international claims adjudication. He served as a clerk for Judge Karen L. Henderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and subsequently clerked for Richard M. Mosk and Charles N. Brower on the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

Nelson entered private practice as an associate at Sidley Austin, where he gained litigation experience that later included arguing thirteen appeals before federal circuit courts on matters involving environmental regulation and constitutional law. He transitioned to public service with a series of senior roles in the executive branch. As Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, Nelson worked on legal issues pertaining to federal environmental statutes. He also served as Deputy General Counsel for the Office of Management and Budget, providing counsel on regulatory policy and administrative law matters. In addition, he acted as special counsel for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and returned briefly to a clerkship for the Senate Legal Counsel.

From 2009 until his judicial appointment in 2018, Nelson was general counsel for Melaleuca, Inc., a company headquartered in Idaho. During this period he oversaw corporate legal affairs and compliance matters. In July 2017 President Trump nominated him to become Solicitor of the Department of the Interior. Nelson appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in September 2017, after which his nomination was placed on the executive calendar but never received a full‑Senate vote.

Federal appellate service

President Donald J. Trump withdrew Nelson’s interior solicitor nomination on May 10, 2018 and announced an intention to nominate him instead for a seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The formal nomination was transmitted to the Senate on May 15, 2018 to fill the vacancy created when Judge N. Randy Smith assumed senior status later that year. A confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee took place on July 11, 2018. The committee reported his nomination favorably by a narrow margin of eleven votes to ten on September 13, 2018.

The full United States Senate confirmed Nelson’s appointment on October 11, 2018 with a vote of fifty‑one in favor and forty‑four against. He received his judicial commission a week later, on October 18, 2018, and has served as an active circuit judge since that time. While on the bench, Judge Nelson has participated in panels addressing a range of legal issues typical of the Ninth Circuit’s docket, which includes immigration, environmental regulation, and federal civil rights matters.

In 2025, during a period when the United States saw multiple deployments of National Guard forces to urban areas under the administration of former President Donald J. Trump, Judge Nelson posed a procedural question concerning the capacity of the judiciary to limit executive authority in such deployments. His inquiry reflected ongoing judicial engagement with the balance of powers among the branches of government.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Judge Nelson’s professional background combines substantial experience in environmental law, administrative regulation, and constitutional litigation, which informs his contributions on a circuit that frequently addresses those subjects. Although specific opinions authored by him are not detailed here, his prior advocacy before appellate courts on environmental and constitutional issues suggests an informed perspective on the legal questions that arise within the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction.

Beyond his judicial duties, Nelson maintains active involvement in several professional organizations. He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 1997, reflecting long‑standing engagement with a network of lawyers focused on textualist and originalist approaches to legal interpretation. Since 2012 he has served as a council member and co‑chair of the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice General Counsel Committee, contributing to policy discussions affecting administrative law practitioners. He is also affiliated with the Idaho Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Eagle Rock Inns of Court, memberships he has held since 2010.

Nelson’s earlier affiliation with the Republican National Lawyers Association, spanning from 2005 until 2018, underscores a period of participation in an organization that supports lawyers aligned with conservative legal principles. However, as a federal judge, his role is non‑partisan and bound by judicial ethics.

Personal aspects of Judge Nelson’s life include his marriage to Barbara Baer and the raising of seven children. In April 2026 he faced criminal charges in Idaho state court for misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property stemming from an altercation in a parking lot, where he was alleged to have seized a man’s glasses and damaged them. The incident prompted two formal complaints alleging judicial misconduct: one filed by Chief Judge Mary Murguia of the Ninth Circuit, and another submitted by Fix the Court, a nonprofit organization advocating for court reform.

These developments have placed Judge Nelson under heightened public scrutiny, yet he continues to serve on the Ninth Circuit pending resolution of the criminal case and any disciplinary proceedings. His career trajectory—from clerkships and private practice through senior government service, corporate counsel, an unconfirmed executive nomination, and ultimately a federal appellate judgeship—illustrates a path marked by extensive legal experience across multiple sectors of the United States legal system.