Judge, "Judge Karen"

While walking through the Miami-Dade County Courthouse last year, Judge Karen Mills-Francis ran into Judge David Young, whose self-titled courtroom television show had just gotten picked up for syndication. Not one to hold her tongue, Mills-Francis confronted Young.

“I congratulated him, then I asked, ‘Why is it that all these other judges are getting a show and nobody has ever asked me to do a show?’” she recalls from a Manhattan studio. It seems that Mills-Francis’s assertiveness paid off. A couple of weeks later, she received a call from Sony Pictures Television, expressing interest in making her television’s next gavel-thumping star.

After meeting with executives and shooting a pilot, the Judge Karen show was given the green light. Since then, the former public defender vacated her bench with Miami-Dade County in April and headed to New York City, where she began production on the half-hour show, which is set to debut September 8 in syndication before making its nationwide debut on BET on September 22.

Amidst a sea of television judges competing for ratings, Judge Karen is sure to stand out with her fiery personality and burgundy judge’s robe, a colorful departure from the typical black robe associated with judges.

Despite having to walk away from her post of eight years, Mills-Francis believes the show is simply an extension of her desire to impact the lives of others.

“This is like having the greatest impact I would ever hope to have, because, normally, I would only be talking to a courtroom full of people. Now hopefully, I’ll be talking to an audience of millions.” –ivory m. jones

For more information, visit www.judgekarentv.com.

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