From Joe Brown and Greg Mathis: African-American Television Judges Making Their Mark

From Joe Brown to Greg Mathis, African-American judges have been making their mark on the television industry for almost a decade now - and it would appear that they are going to continue entertaining audiences well into the next decade.
We've all watched them at one time or another and although their shows clearly aren't as popular as they once were, television's African-American judges have stood the test of time and then some.

What the future holds, no one knows, but the past has been pretty good to them to say the least. Here is a biographical review of the African-American judges who have plied their trade on television in front of millions of viewers every day.

Joe Brown

Joe Brown was born on July 5, 1947 in Washington, DC, and raised in Los Angeles, Ca. He earned a bachelors in political science and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at UCLA, before moving to Memphis, Tennessee in 1974. Brown became the first African-American prosecutor in the City of Memphis. He would later open his own law practice before becoming a Judge on the State Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee.

Brown was thrust into the national spotlight while presiding over James Earl Ray's last appeal for Ray's conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and caught the attention of the producers of Judge Judy.
The syndicated Judge Joe Brown show premiered in 1998 on CBS and is currently the longest running show of its kind featuring an African-American judge.

The series can be found on network television stations across the United States during daytime programming.
Although Brown is a star in the African-American community, he still takes justice very seriously.

"I have always had a passion for correcting wrongs," says Brown, who retired from criminal court in 2000. "And I have always been a person who has admired courage and bravery."

Brown, who recently married Deborah Herron in a stunning Malibu ceremony, has two sons from a previous relationship. When he's not taping the show in Los Angeles, he spends time with his new wife and enjoys horseback riding, scuba diving or swimming with the sharks. And he has not ruled out a return to public office.

"I saw life, I didn't succumb to it," says Brown, who was raised in the gang-infested, crime-ridden areas of Los Angeles. "I assessed it and it motivated me to do something about what I saw and about myself ... What I have had is an abiding drive and ambition to make a difference."

Greg Mathis

Born, April 5, 1960 in Detroit, Michigan, Mathis is a retired Michigan 36th District Court judge and syndicated television show judge. His show Judge Mathis is seen five days a week in most television markets in North America.

The fourth of four boys born to Alice Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist, nurses aide, housekeeper and single mother, Mathis was both victim and beneficiary of the rich mix of African-American culture found in Detroit during the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s. However, his mother's deep devotion to church and community rescued her son from total destruction, something many of his peers could not escape.

A close family friend helped Mathis get admitted to Eastern Michigan University, and he discovered a new interest in politics and public administration. He graduated with a B.S. Public Administration from the Ypsilanti campus and began to seek employment in Detroit's City Hall.

Mathis began his political career as an unpaid intern, and his presence in Detroit's City Hall was insignificant until he became an assistant to Clyde Cleveland, a city council member. It was at this time Mathis took the LSAT and applied to law schools; he was fortunate enough to be conditionally admitted to the University of Detroit School of Law, which was in downtown Detroit. He passed a summer course and was officially admitted to the night program which took four years to complete.
Mathis had many obstacles to overcome. He had failed the Michigan bar exam once, and had been denied a license to practice law for several years after graduating from law school because of his criminal past.

He had not accrued an extensive portfolio of legal work, but he was seen by the establishment as someone who lacked the necessary experience and insight to handle the hectic and heavy docket of a judge. Yet in 1995, he was elected a superior court judge for Michigan's 36th District, making him the youngest man in the state to hold the post.

During the five years he was on the bench, he was rated in the top five of all judges in the 36th District; there are about thirty judges each year. Mathis was in the process of trying to have a movie made about his youth when a partner was contacted by Blackpearl Productions about starting a television show. Mathis has since been hosting, Judge Mathis, since 1999, the second longest running "judge show" featuring an African-American judge.

In 2001, Mathis appeared in the first annual "BET Awards" as himself and was also a guest star as himself in the Steve Harvey show episode "Here Comes the Judge". Mathis has been parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tracy Morgan in the "Judge Horace" persona and is married to the former Linda Reese since 1985. Mathis lives with his wife ane the couple's three children, Camara, Greg Jr. & Amir.

Judge Glenda Hatchett
Glenda A. Hatchett was born in 1951 in Atlanta, Georgia and is the judge on the nationally syndicated television series Judge Hatchett which is modeled after other "judge shows" such as Judge Judy and The People's Court.

Hatchett received her B.A. in political science from Mount Holyoke College in 1973 and law degree from Emory University. She worked in the legal and public relations departments at Delta Air Lines and then received her first judicial appointment as the chief presiding judge of the Fulton County, Georgia Juvenile Court. Not your average television judge, Hatchett is the author of Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say (Harper Collins, 2003).

I like the fact that Hatchett is more down to earth than any of the judges on their respective television shows. She doesn't' berate litigants and generally gives the impression that she's in your corner and only wants what's best for you. That's what sets her show, "Judge Hatchett," apart from other shows of the genre.

Once the highest-ranking Black woman at Delta Airlines, Hatchett gave it all up when she was appointed a juvenile court judge in Atlanta, where she served for eight years. While there, she developed a reputation for creative sentencing that has carried over to her television courtroom. When she left her post as chief presiding judge of Georgia's Fulton County Juvenile Court to "recharge" her soul, producers approached Hatchett to offer her a show.

Hatchett said fine, as long as they did it her way - and they certainly did. Hatchett offers intervention to litigants, which can include anything from counseling to drug treatment. "I wanted to get people help, I didn't want to dog people out," said Hatchett, who enjoys spending time with her two teenage sons. "I really want to use the power of television to try to impart some life lessons ... to try to influence people's lives."

Mablean Ephraim
Mablean Deloris Ephriam was born in 1949 and is the former judge on the television program Divorce Court. While she encouraged her litigants to discuss sensitive issues to get to the heart of what is causing the divorce, she is quick to restore order in her courtroom when things get out of hand, and she scolds her litigants for disrespecting each other, or her, in court.
She made a short appearance in the film adaptation of the play Diary of a Mad Black Woman, portraying (fittingly) a judge. She also portrayed the same character in the sequel, Madea's Family Reunion.

Ephriam is a native of Hazlehurst, Mississippi and although she had never actually served as a judge before Divorce Court, she has had plenty of knowledge and experience in law and is also a divorcee herself. She started her law career as a correctional officer in the Women's Division of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and worked as a trial attorney for over 20 years. In 1982, she opened her own law practice, dealing mainly with personal injury and family law cases. Ms. Ephriam was chosen to become the presiding judge of Divorce Court when the current version of the show premiered in 1999.

Ephriam's trademark phrase on Divorce Court was "Look deep before you leap," advising would-be newlyweds to examine each others' behaviors and attitudes carefully before they decide to marry.

In March 2006, it was announced that Ephriam would leave Divorce Court at the end of the 2005-2006 season (her seventh behind the bench), reportedly because she and the show's producers were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension. She was replaced by Judge Lynn Toler, a former judge from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who formerly presided over the short-lived syndicated courtroom TV show Power of Attorney.

Lynn Toler
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Lynn Toler is the judge of the television series Divorce Court, replacing Mablean Ephriam on September 11, 2006. She is also the former host of the court show Power of Attorney and served as administrative judge in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court for eight years after working as an attorney specializing in civil matters.

n 2006, the show, Divorce Court was renewed for an eighth season; however, Mablean Ephriam and Twentieth Television were unable to come to terms on a contract extension and selected Toler to replace her.
So far, fans of the show have found familiarity in the show's topics and bickering couples, and responded well to the new judge's style, as ratings were on par with seasons past.