Lynn Candace Toler (born October 25, 1959) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

, television arbitrator, and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, best-known for her role as arbitrator on ''

Divorce Court ''Divorce Court'' is an American court show that revolves around settling the disputes of couples going through divorces. The show has had four separate runs, all in first-run syndication. Since the debut of the original series in 1957, it is ...

''. With her 14 seasons on the show, between 2006 and 2020, Toler is the longest-reigning arbitrator on the series. Toler is also known for her co-hosting role (together with Dr. Ish Major) as a marriage mentor for the series '' Marriage Boot Camp,'' specifically ''Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars - Hip Hop Edition.'' To date, Toler has presented ''Marriage Boot Camp'' for three seasons since the show's 16th season, which began on February 6, 2020. Season 18 of ''Marriage Boot Camp'' premiered on October 17, 2021, and Toler was contracted to host the show for an additional 19th season as well, with the series concluding in 2022.

Early life and education

Lynn Toler was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. She graduated from Columbus School for Girls, and went on to earn an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

degree in English and

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

(class of 1981) and a

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from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

(1984).

Career

In 1993, at 34-years-old and after working as an attorney specializing in civil matters, Toler won her first judicial race by just six votes, as a Republican in a predominantly Democratic district. From 1994-2000, she served as

Cleveland Heights Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a Village (United States), village in ...

Municipal Court's sole judge, with her cases involving all

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

crimes, traffic violations, and minor-cost civil cases. Toler was known for enforcing non-traditional judgments, such as handwritten

essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, and for creating

mentoring Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

and intervention programs. During this time, she served on many boards, including The Juvenile

Diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Board, The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), and The Cleveland

Domestic Violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

Center. In 2002, she received the

Humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

of the Year Award from the latter organization. Between 2001 and 2006, Toler was an

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at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where she taught courses on

Civil Rights Law Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

and

Women's Rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

Television and entertainment career

Court show judge (2001-2020)

During the 2001-02 television season, Toler replaced Andrew Napolitano as the presiding judge over the nontraditional courtroom series, ''

Power of Attorney A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...

''. The program was canceled after that television year, however, with the show as a whole only lasting two seasons. Toler experienced much greater success within the court-show genre when she became arbitrating judge over ''Divorce Court'', the longest-running program in the court television genre, and one of the longest-syndicated programs of all time. Toler took over the bench beginning on September 11, 2006, with the premiere of the court show's 24th season, replacing Mablean Ephriam (of whom Toler has said she is fond and with whom Toler has had pleasant interactions). Toler would eventually become ''Divorce Court''s longest-reigning judge (the series also features four other judges who have each had their tenures), presiding over the broadcast for 14 seasons. As the level-headed arbiter of ''Divorce Court'', Toler was frequently seen providing counsel, words of wisdom, and trying to talk sense into the show's often outrageous couples. She used her vehement expression, emphasis, and strident vocal timbre to deliver her points. In 2007, while hosting ''Divorce Court'', she expanded her television presence by hosting the prime time television show and

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's ''Decision House'', a couples therapy program. In 2008 and 2009, Toler was a regular contributor on ''News and Notes'', a weekly news show on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR). Toler departed ''Divorce Court'' after 14 years, announced publicly in March 2020. During an October 19, 2021, interview on Bailiff Byrd's '' Bonding with Byrd'' web series, Toler elaborated on details of her ''Divorce Court'' resignation, citing a list of dissatisfactions she had with production. Among them, Toler recounted efforts made by production to move the program into a more farcical, comedic direction following the popularity of her "Rolling Ray" ''Divorce Court'' case. Toler has also cited various other objections she had during her final season, such as the show's relocation from

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and a vastly altered, simulated "courtroom" set design that led to her having physical discomfort while ruling on cases. During the ''Bonding with Byrd'' interview, Toler also cited regular altercations with the ''Divorce Court'' crew, thus fueling her decision to resign from the program. Still, she has expressed grace for the opportunity to preside over the court show, which has since been presided over by Faith Jenkins (2020-2022) and Star Jones (2022-). During her interview with Byrd, Toler added that while she didn't miss the show, as she had chosen to leave, she did miss the show in the form it was presented in prior to her final season.

Post-''Divorce Court''

Since February 2020, Toler has hosted the We TV hit series, '' Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars''. In May 2023, streaming service Allblk announced a deal with Toler where she would write and executive produce the drama Judge Me Not. The show was loosely based on her life, focusing on a Black female judge who joins an Atlanta municipal court after being elected by six votes.

Authoring career

Toler is the author of ''My Mother's Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius'', in which she describes lessons her mother, Shirley (nicknamed Toni), taught her to handle both her father Bill Toler's erratic behavior and her own inner demons. She describes how this later came in handy when dealing with emotional people from the bench. She also discusses how to apply these rules to everyday life. In 2009, her second book, ''Put it In Writing'' (co-authored with Deborah Hutchison), was published. This book contains agreements for use in common but uncomfortable situations between family and friends, such as lending money, and grown children returning home. Judge Toler is also author of ''Making Marriage Work'' and ''Dear Sonali, Letters to the Daughter I Never had.''

Personal life

Toler resides in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

. Toler and her husband, Eric Mumford, married on April 6, 1989, and Toler has two sons and four stepsons. On January 4, 2023, Judge Toler announced via social media that Eric Mumford passed away on December 23, 2022. Though identifying as a political

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

since 2017, and having once served as an Ohio judge as a Republican, Toler has donated exclusively to candidates aligned with the Democratic Party including Jaime Harrison, Amy McGrath, and President Joe Biden.

References

External links

* [https://divorce.sodaandlime.com/meet-judge-lynn/ Lynn Toler bio] ''divorcecourt.com''

at Cleveland Scene, 6/14/2006, "Here Comes the Judge."
NPR: Television Judge Lynn Toler's Real-Life Struggles

Lynn Toler's ''My Mother's Rules''
at AOL Black Voices

at "Order in the Divorce Court" in the ''Pennsylvania niversityGazette'', September/October 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Toler, Lynn African-American television personalities Ohio Republicans Ohio state court judges Harvard College alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni African-American judges Living people Television judges American women judges 1959 births 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American women Columbus School for Girls alumni