The Gadianton judges did not like Nephi stirring up the people to repentance. They started accusing him and inciting people to anger against Nephi. The Judges were trying to get the President of the Church arrested, the Prophet. This was not an ordinary, daily event.
The judges believed that Nephi had broken the law. Exodus 22:28 says, “Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy country,” and Nephi was doing just that. They thought that he had illegally reviled against the government. If these kinds of woes got Abinadi in trouble, why did the judges not arrest Nephi?
The lawsuits in this world had to be initiated by an offended party, and so they tried to get the people to bring the lawsuit. We are dealing with some corrupt judges, so it is interesting that even though they had changed the law, even though they were very corrupt themselves, this is a line that they could not cross. If they had dragged Nephi into court, these leaders, as corrupt as they may have been, still needed to retain the support of the general population.