Judge Joe Brown

Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr. was born on July 5, 1947, in Washington, D.C., and was raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles. He excelled academically, graduating as valedictorian from Dorsey High School. Brown pursued higher education at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and subsequently a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. During his law school years, he worked as a substitute teacher. His early life exposed him to challenging environments, which he credits for shaping his philosophical outlook, emphasizing the importance of making a difference to others.

After completing his legal education, Brown moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he began his career as an attorney for the Legal Services Corporation. He later served at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. By 1978, Brown made history as the first African-American prosecutor in Memphis, further demonstrating his commitment to the legal field. He then directed the Memphis public defender’s office before establishing his own law practice. His career trajectory led him to the bench in 1990, when he was elected as a judge on the State Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee. During his tenure as a judge, he gained a reputation for issuing unconventional sentences, such as requiring a child molester to confess to his church congregation or ordering a drug trafficker to issue a public apology in a newspaper.

Judge Brown’s judicial career took a significant turn when he presided over James Earl Ray’s final appeal concerning his conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. This high-profile case brought him national attention and led to his discovery by the producers of *Judge Judy*. His subsequent role as the star of the arbitration-based reality court show, *Judge Joe Brown*, which aired from September 14, 1998, to May 22, 2013, cemented his status as a prominent television personality. The show ran for 15 seasons and over 3,000 episodes, making him the second highest-paid daytime television personality behind *Judge Judy* for much of its run and the longest-serving African American television arbitrator at the time. After the show’s cancellation in 2013 due to a salary dispute with CBS, Brown explored other ventures, including a run for Shelby County district attorney and later for Memphis mayor.