Joe Brown

Joe Brown (born July 5, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is an American former judge and television personality, best known for the syndicated court show Judge Joe Brown.

After practising law in Memphis, Brown was elected judge of the State Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, in 1990. He became known for unconventional sentences meant to make offenders face their victims and communities.

In the late 1990s he drew national attention when he presided over proceedings in James Earl Ray's last attempts to reopen the case of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; he was later removed from the case over alleged bias.

Judge Joe Brown premiered in September 1998 and ran until 2013. For much of that time Brown was among the highest-paid personalities in daytime television, second only to Judge Judy Sheindlin.

In 2014 he ran for Shelby County district attorney and lost. The same year he was held in contempt of court during a juvenile court hearing and spent several days in jail.