Joe Brown Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Joseph "Joe" Brown (born July 5, 1947) is a judge and host of a court show which shares his name. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Brown graduated at the top of his class at Dorsey High School, then earned a bachelor's degree in political science and in 1973 a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at UCLA. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. 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... MORE

Joseph "Joe" Brown (born July 5, 1947) is a judge and host of a court show which shares his name. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Brown graduated at the top of his class at Dorsey High School, then earned a bachelor's degree in political science and in 1973 a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at UCLA. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. 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 of Ray's conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Brown was removed from the reopened investigation of King's murder due to alleged bias—former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia wrote that Brown told her and the Congressional Black Caucus, unequivocally, that the so-called murder rifle was not the weapon that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. It was during this time that Judge Brown caught the attention of the producers of Judge Judy. The syndicated "Judge Joe Brown" court show premiered on September 14, 1998. LESS