"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. - Matthew 7:1. So-called Christian soldiers! It's time to do your business or get off the pot! Order in the court - which is sorely lacking in most of these court TV shows, a point that will be explained in this book about those programs and the people who sit in as "judges." And yet these television judges - really arbitrators and mediators - sit in judgment of naïve litigants five days a week using a wide range of "judges" to make decisions about the lives of everyday people who have been vetted to ensure that they will appear on television and make utter clowns of themselves for the pleasure of the viewing audience. This book deals with the most popular court TV programs and gives them a going-over in the same way that far too many of those sitting on that bench do to litigants who have literally signed their lives away in exchange for a shot at stardom. Move over Koko, Bozo and Shakes: there is a new crop of "clowns" on the horizon. And many of them are your next door neighbors. The judges analyzed in this book include Alex Ferrer, the "Couples Court" with the Cutler family, Marilyn Milian of "The People's Court" and Jeanine Pirro, President Donald Trump's mouthpiece. Others include Lynn Toler, the queen of bipolar disorder, Karen Mills-Francis a sistah with dyed blond hair, Faith Jenkins who looks like she should be in grade school and Greg Mathis, the "street brutha" who never hesitates to remind the audience of that and to bring up the subject of "crack" whenever possible. I close out with Joe Brown, Lauren Lake of "Paternity Court" and then comes the one I enjoyed criticizing the most: Judge Judy Sheindlin of "Judge Judy." Additional analysis is included in sections on which shows I deem "the best" and "the worst" and a final word on "the minstrel production machine."
About the Author: Matthew C. Stelly is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on a degree in Urban Education and Community Policy. He holds three Master's degrees: Urban Studies (1982), Urban Education (1983) and Political Science (2000). He is working toward his doctorate in Community Policy/Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Courier newspaper, former director of the Great Plains Black Museum and the Plano (TX) African American Museum, and lead archivist for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. Stelly has more than 2,500 articles in print and has won two national essay competitions. He is the founding director of the largest African-American neighborhood group in Nebraska, the Triple One Neighborhood Association and Parents Union. He is publisher and editor of the Triple One News, a two-time nationally recognized newsletter. He is the father of five children - Mandla, Malik, Clariece, Charisse and Shannon -- and remains actively involved in community organizing and neighborhood development in several cities, including Milwaukee and Omaha.