To say that Judge Joe Brown had a tough day in court Monday would be an understatement. The popular TV court judge and now child-support attorney was sentenced to five days behind bars after being found in contempt of court.
Brown, 66, is in a Memphis, Tenn., jail after an incident in Shelby County Juvenile Court.
"Right now he's being processed at our facility," said Chip Washington, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. "That's about it for right now."
According to reports, Brown became disruptive with Magistrate Harold "Hal" Horne during a child-support hearing. He was in court to represent someone in a case.
"He all but had that courtroom in a riot,'' Juvenile Court Chief Magistrate Dan Michael told the Commercial Appeal. Before the hearing, Brown apparently caused a disturbance as he shook hands and asked for votes in his upcoming election in Memphis.
When Brown's court case was called, he became irritated with the courtroom delays and started yelling at the judge. "He then began a diatribe against Mr. Horne and the authority of the court," Michael told the paper, adding that the judge asked him to "desist."
Horne insisted that Brown calm down, but apparently he wasn’t having it. Horne then had Brown arrested and added additional counts for every disruption he made, bringing it to a total of five days in jail.
If you thought the #FreeBoosie campaign was a sight to behold, Twitter users are now following the case with #FreeJudgeJoeBrown. Maybe all those years of courtroom-TV meltdowns by people appearing in front of him finally got to him.
Read more at the Commercial Appeal.