TV Judge Joe Brown sentenced to six days in jail after nearly causing 'a riot' with courtroom outburst (2024)

The star of the television show Judge Joe Brown has been arrested and charged with five counts of contempt of court in Tennessee.

Shelby County Juvenile Court officials said the 66-year-old Brown was sentenced to five days in jail after causing an outburst Monday in a courtroom hearing. A spokesman for the Shelby County Juvenile Court, chief Magistrate Judge Dan Michael, said Brown appeared to have been representing a client who was accused of not paying child support. Michael said Brown caused a spectacle in court by yelling and repeatedly challenging the juvenile court magistrate’s authority.

Article content

“He darn near caused a riot in the courtroom, he had people so inflamed,”Michael said of the former TV judge.

Celebrity gossip site TMZ goes a bit further, claiming Brown left the premises on his own, he did so while “screaming the entire time.”

“I’ll have you charged with violation of process,” Brown can be heard saying in audio of the court case obtained by TMZafter he is charged during his testimony with contempt of court – after which point his sentence of 24 hours is increased to two days.

“It’s a circus, sir,” Brown shouts after leaving the stand, at which point Michael increases his sentence to three days. “You can do all you want” Brown responds – increasing his jail time to four days. Brown continues to talk back, eventually bumping his sentence up to five days before he leaves the courtroom altogether.

Joe Brown is currently running to be the top prosecutor in Shelby County. Memphis is the county seat.

Officials with juvenile court and the sheriff’s department don’t know if Brown has a lawyer.

With files from National Post staff

Article content