Marilyn Milian

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Marilyn Milian, Esq. (born May 1, 1961, in Queens, New York), is a former Florida state circuit court judge and currently presides over the American television program The People's Court. She is the first female judge to preside over the long-running show and the first Hispanic judge to sit on the bench of any English language television court show.^[1]

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Legal career 3 Personal 4 Acting career 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life and education

Born to Cuban parents, Milian is fluent in Spanish. She and her family moved to Miami 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, graduating summa cum laude, with a 4.0 grade point average. She then attended Georgetown University Law Center, earning her J.D., cum laude, at age 23. She spent a year working at Harvard Law School, where she served as director of training for the Guatemala Project. She was responsible for training the Guatemalan trial judiciary, defense and prosecution bar in investigatory and trial techniques.^[2]

[edit] Legal career

Milian worked as an assistant state attorney for the Dade County State Attorney's Office. She was appointed to the position by Janet Reno, who was then the state attorney for the county. In 1999, Florida governor Jeb Bush appointed Milian to the Miami Circuit Court where she served in the Criminal Division. Prior to that, she spent five years in the Miami County Court in the Domestic Violence Court, Criminal and Civil divisions. In 2001, she replaced Jerry Sheindlin as judge of The People's Court. She is currently in her ninth season on the show. At some point, according to her in one of the episodes of The People's Court, she also taught law at the University of Miami.^[3]

[edit] Personal

Milian is married to Judge John Schlesinger, a former assistant United States attorney, who in 2004 was elected to the 11th Judicial Circuit City for Miami-Dade County, Florida. This is the same position that Milian held before retiring to The People's Court. On The People's Court, she is also quick to put down the plaintiff and/or defendant in Spanish. They live in Coral Gables, Florida, with their three children, Cristina, Alexandra, and Sofia. She travels to Manhattan on a bi-weekly basis for three days of taping of The People's Court. When not on the bench, Judge Milian is a self-described "soccer mom," driving "the beat up minivan, to and from school, soccer, ballet, tennis, theatre and play dates!"^{[citation needed]} Judge Milian lends her support to many community and philanthropic organizations. Milian is the spokesperson for the FBI's Safe Online Surfing (FBI-SOS) campaign. She is a sought-after speaker well known for her dedication to the Hispanic community and a strong voice against domestic violence. Milian has served as emcee for a number of charitable causes, including the Latino Commission on AIDS, The Lighthouse for the Blind, The Miami-Dade County Teachers Awards, Hope for Vision, and the South Florida Children's Home Society. She was an honorary host for National Chairman Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2003 annual celebration of the South Florida Inner-City Games. Milian was the honorary judge for Washington's 2002 Teachers Making A Difference campaign and is actively involved in supporting Southern Florida's Children's Cancer Center's Summer Camp, hosting "Camp Court" mock trials of camp counselors by the young campers. On September 20, 2006, she received the "Groundbreaking Latina of the Year" award from Catalina magazine and the National Association of Latina Leaders.

[edit] Acting career

She appeared in the role of a judge on The George Lopez Show in the episodes "George's Mom Faces Hard Tambien" and "George Testi-Lies for Benny" for the case of George's mom Benny being an accomplice to a robbery 30 years ago.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marilyn Milian at the Internet Movie Database

Legal offices
Preceded by Jerry Sheindlin	Judge of The People's Court March 12, 2001–present	Succeeded by Incumbent