Career and Life

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Joseph B. Brown known as Judge Joe Brown, is an American lawyer and television personality. He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee, Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown.

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Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated at the top of his class at Dorsey High School, then in 1969 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. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

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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.

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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.

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In March 2014, Brown won the Democratic primary for the position of Shelby County district attorney. He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 65% to 35%, after making comments about her sexuality.

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