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Marilyn Milian (born May 1, 1961), known professionally as Judge Milian, is an American television personality, lecturer, retired
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...
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 ...
and court-show arbitrator. For 22 seasons from March 12, 2001 to July 21, 2023, Milian starred in the American courtroom television series ''
The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims court, small claims disputes in a simulation, simulated courtroom set. W ...
'', replacing Jerry Sheindlin. ''Justice for the People with Judge Milian,'' where Milian hears cases presented by actors improvising as litigants, premiered in the fall of 2023. Milian is the first Hispanic arbitrator to preside over a
court show A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming genre comprising legal dramas and reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of legal ...
and during ''The People's Courts 2001–2023 season she became the show's longest-serving judge, surpassing Joseph Wapner, the show's inaugural jurist.


Early life

Milian was born in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
to
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n parents Jorge, a
general contractor A contractor (North American English) or builder (British English), is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the c ...
, and Georgina Milian. She spoke
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
before learning English and is fluent in both languages. The family moved from
Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...
, to
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
when she was eight years old. She graduated from St. Brendan High School. Milian earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
. She then attended
Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...
, earning her J.D. She spent a year working at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, where she served as director of training for the
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
Project. She was responsible for training the Guatemalan trial judiciary, defense, and prosecution bar in investigatory and trial techniques.


Career


Legal career

Milian was appointed assistant state attorney for the Dade County State Attorney's Office by
Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...
, who was then the county's state attorney. After ten years in that position, she then worked for the Miami County Court, serving in the domestic violence, criminal, and civil divisions. In 1999, Florida governor
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
appointed Milian to the Miami Circuit Court, where she served in the Criminal Division. In 2001, she replaced Jerry Sheindlin as judge of ''The People's Court,'' and became the first Hispanic judge on any English-language television court show. Milian has listed as an adjunct faculty member of the
University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest law school in South Florida, graduating its first ...
, teaching litigation skills.


''The People's Court''

Milian served as presiding judge in the second life of the courtroom show ''
The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims court, small claims disputes in a simulation, simulated courtroom set. W ...
'', the first arbitration-based reality court show and the second-longest running court show in history. Milian presided over the program from the spring of 2001, which was late in ''The People's Court''s 17th season (or the fourth season of the revived version of the show), to the end of the 2022-23 season. ''The People's Court'' has featured several arbitrators, with Milian currently holding the title of the longest-presiding arbitrator over the series. By the completion of the show's 28th season (2012–13), Milian had completed twelve and a half seasons presiding over the program, officially making her the longest-running judge on ''The People's Court''. The late Joseph Wapner, the show's original judge, was the previous holder of this record. By the spring of 2021, she reached 20 years as presiding judge over the program. In contrast to ''The People's Court''s previous arbiters, Milian is considerably more animated in her role, but she's also known for being levelheaded and logical in her observations and handling of the cases. Although engaging for the most part, Milian also dishes out a good-natured, lively sass at the litigants and does not tolerate any disrespect from them. Milian explains Americans' fascination with the court show genre: "We are a fast-food nation. People love to see resolution, they want to watch someone who has done wrong confronted and see justice prevail … all in an hour." Milian was portrayed by
Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is the longest-tenured female cast member in the show's histor ...
in a 2017 ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' parody of ''The People's Court'' where she presided over a case between President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and three judges of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...
.


''Justice for the People with Judge Milian''

In April 2023, it was reported that
Allen Media Group Allen Media Group, alternately known by its former name of Entertainment Studios, Inc. is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved ...
had signed Milian to a new show, ''Justice for the People with Judge Milian'', the show premiered in syndication fall 2023.


Personal life

Milian is married to John Schlesinger, a former assistant United States attorney who was elected to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for
Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...
, the same position that Milian held before retiring to host ''The People's Court''. They live in
Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
with their three children. Milian is the spokesman for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
's Safe Online Surfing (FBI-SOS) campaign. In 2019, she appeared on the daytime version of ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...
'', winning $5,000 for Camp Fiesta, a Florida summer camp free for children with cancer.


Television credits


See also

* List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milian, Marilyn 1961 births Living people People from Astoria, Queens Lawyers from New York City Lawyers from Miami American women lawyers American women television personalities Florida lawyers Florida state court judges Television judges American judges of Cuban descent Hispanic and Latino American judges Harvard Law School faculty University of Miami faculty University of Miami School of Law alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges