--- title: "Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/howard-c-nielson-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-02" --- # Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. U.S. District Court for the District of Utah · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Utah - State: Utah - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. Utah, 2019-present - special assistant to the deputy attorney general, 2001-present - United States district judge for the District of Utah, appointed in 2019 by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate on May 22, 2019 - On September 28, 2017, President Trump nominated Nielson to the District of Utah seat vacated by Judge Ted Stewart - deputy assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, 2003-2005 - From 2001 to 2005, he worked in the U.S. Department of Justice, first as counsel to the Attorney General and later as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel - counsel to the Attorney General, 2001-2003 - Law Clerk, Supreme Court of the United States, 1998-1999 - Law Clerk, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1997-1998 - Nielson held the role of law clerk to Judge J. Michael Luttig (4th Circuit) and later to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court ### Education - a J.D. with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1997, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and held the role of articles editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. - Brigham Young University-Provo — B.A. (1992) - He earned a B.A. with honors and summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1992 ### Additional information - After a Senate hold by Senator Tammy Duckworth, Trump renominate him in January 2019. - The Senate confirmed him 51–47 on May 22, 2019, and he assumed office on June 12, 2019. - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2005-2019 - distinguished lecturer, 2009-2014 - Legal consultant, The Boeing Company, 2008-2014 - J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, 2007-2014 - lecturer, 2007-2009 - His nomination faced opposition over his role in defending California’s Proposition 8 and reviewing two 2004–2006 torture memos. - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 1999-2001 - Born in 1968 in Provo, Utah, Nielson is the son of former Utah House Representative Julia (née Adams) Nielson and former U.S. House member Howard C. Nielson. - Date of birth: 1968-01-01 - He has also taught constitutional litigation, national security law, and foreign relations law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. - Birth place: Provo, UT ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Video Presentation 1 – Allows a personal laptop to be connected to the courtroom video and sound system. Can be used for Power Point Presentations, showing video and evidentiary documents throughout the courtroom monitors. . [Courtroom Technology Information | District of Utah | United States District Court](https://www.utd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology-information) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6489101) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6489101) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6489101) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8612/howard-curtis-nielson-jr/) - [Courtroom Technology Information | District of Utah | United States District Court](https://www.utd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology-information) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/8612/howard-curtis-nielson-jr/) - [Wikidata: Howard C. Nielson Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41517807) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/howard-c-nielson-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/howard-c-nielson-jr", "name": "Howard Curtis Nielson Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Howard Curtis Nielson Jr., U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.