Why Judge Joe Brown Got Arrested; Apparent Facebook Campaign Likens Him To Martin Luther King Jr.

Television personality Judge Joe Brown was placed behind bars in Tennessee after another judge found him in contempt of court. The TV judge had been in the courtroom to support a client in a child support case.

It was reported that Brown, who had a show from 1998 to 2013, showed up at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis shaking hands but left in handcuffs. But oddly, court staff they didn’t have any information on the case.

According to WREG Memphis, court workers told Brown (who waited nearly 20 minutes for the proceedings to begin) that they didn’t have any record of the case. That’s when the news site said Brown lost control and became verbally abusive. A court spokesperson even went on record to say the television personality nearly caused a riot in the courtroom.

Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person said in a statement quoted by WREG: “Anyone who comes before the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County will be treated fairly, with dignity and with respect. Anyone who acts in a contemptuous manner toward this court, toward any member of this court, toward any employee of this court or toward any visitor of this court will be dealt with appropriately according to the laws of the State of Tennessee.”

Since his arrest, some supporters on Facebook have compared Brown, who is black, to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “This is not any different than when Martin Luther King was jailed repeatedly, while fighting for our rights,” the Facebook page supposedly posted. "The only difference is that he will not be a Martyr.” The apparent Facebook status then asked users to make MLK Jr. their profile picture as a sign of respect to Brown and MLK.

Though a screen shot of the post lives on WREG.com, the actual post seems to have been taken down. On the Facebook page “Free Judge Joe Brown,” one of the FB users questioned the idea of likening JJB to MLK.

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