Judge Greg Mathis

Greg Mathis

Greg Mathis was born April 5, 1960 was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He is the youngest of four boys and the son of a member of a street gang called the Errol Flynns.  Mathis eventually followed down the path of his father and was arrested many times and was imprisoned at the age of 17.  Due to his father’s past he was offered parole and obtained a minimum wage job to stay out of the legal system.  Despite his troubled past Mathis rose to the top when discovering an interest in politics while attending Eastern Michigan University.  However, his criminal background restricted him from obtaining a license to practice law after graduating from law school. 

In 1995, he was elected a superior court judge for Michigan’s 36^th District, the youngest person to do so.  During his time spent as a judge he was rate within the top five out of 30 judges each year.  In attempts to stay involved in the political world he was appointed the head of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign as well as Mayor Coleman Young’s election.  Mathis is also the author of a book written in 2008 called Street Judge and is in the process of creating a video game based on his own experiences.  Currently, Judge Greg Mathis is in the national entertainment industry. He serves as a judge on his own television show focusing on African American movements and urban politic cases.  Judge Mathis is a legal reality TV show which has aired over 2000 episodes and has renewed to air for the 2011-2012 seasons.  The cases are real cases considering tort laws chosen by the producers of the show. Mathis’ attitude has laid back persona which differs from most televised court based shows.

   

The story of Greg Mathis dispels the stereotype that black men are inferior to the white man.  He overcomes adversity by breaking away from the norm and his troubled past.  His story is unique in that he went on to become an entrepreneur and notorious judge of high power and wealth.  Mathis worked to be an active member in politics and get ahead of the criminal justice system.  The system worked positively for him which is rare for many cases of distressed black youths.  If more cases turned out like they did for Mathis’ then maybe blacks would not be discouraged to obtain a position of high power and education. However, sadly that is a rarity today.  Do you think that if more blacks were treated like Greg Mathis early on in life we would have more African Americans within the justice system rather than in prisons?

Judge Mathis fighting against racism in his courtroom