Law / Film & TV
Greg Mathis
born 1960 · judge, television arbitrator, author
Detroit-raised former gang member who became a 36th District Court judge in the city and then TV's 'Judge Mathis' for 24 seasons (1999–2023).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 66- Birth name
- Gregory Ellis Mathis
- Also known as
- Judge Mathis
- Detroit years
- 1960–
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Greg Mathis was born in Detroit in 1960 and raised largely by his mother, a nurse's aide and housekeeper, living in the Herman Gardens public housing project in the late 1960s. As a teenager in the turbulent 1970s he ran with a street gang and was jailed; his mother's illness and a promise to her turned him around. He earned his GED, studied public administration at Eastern Michigan University and was admitted to the University of Detroit School of Law downtown, graduating in 1987, though his record delayed his bar admission for years. He worked for the city, ran Jesse Jackson's 1988 Michigan campaign and in 1995 was elected judge of Detroit's 36th District Court, the youngest in the state at the time. From 1999 to 2023 he presided over the syndicated courtroom show Judge Mathis, which won Daytime Emmy and NAACP Image awards, and he has kept close ties to Detroit, once giving away gasoline to thank voters.
Highlights
- Judge of Detroit's 36th District Court (elected 1995)
- Host of the syndicated court show Judge Mathis, 1999–2023
- Daytime Emmy Award winner
- Law graduate of the University of Detroit Mercy (1987)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1995–1999
36th District Court (Madison Center)
Detroit's district court, where he served as judge before his television career.
Studied here · 1984–1987
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
Downtown law school near City Hall, where he earned his law degree in 1987.
Lived here · 1964–1970
Herman Gardens
Demolished
West Side public housing project where he lived as a boy; it was demolished in the 2000s.