Judge Greg Mathis Biography

To be honest about it, I have to admit that I really don’t like Greg Mathis much and I think he can be an overbearing jackass much of the time. However, I have to give credit where it is due, and I must say that Mathis’ life is a testament to the power of perseverance – and better yet, an example to young African-Americans everywhere, that dreams really do come true if you pursue them long enough.

Here is the interesting story of the life of Greg Mathis.

Born April 5, 1960 in Detroit, Michigan, Mathis is a retired Michigan 36th District Court judge and syndicated television show judge. The fourth of four boys born to Alice Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist and single mother, Mathis was both the victim and beneficiary, of the mix of African-American culture found in Detroit during the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s.

Emulating his older brothers, Mathis quickly learned to steal, cheat and lie. However, his mother’s deep devotion to church and community rescued her son from total destruction, something many of his peers could not escape.

From shooting at the Detroit Police from their housing project, to purse snatching in the white suburbs, to using and selling drugs, including heroin, his early life showed little promise, except for his mother’s concern and tough love.

Raised in the Herman Gardens housing project, Mathis was on the road to a criminal life as a teenager. His father was estranged from him, but associated closely with the Errol Flynns, a notorious Detroit street gang, that Mathis would eventually join while still a teenager.

In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. Yet when incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen year old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the tragic news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. This event changed Mathis, and he was given the benefit of a considerate judge, who offered probation if he enrolled and passed a G.E.D. course in six months.
Things did not completely change for Mathis after is release. His use of drugs and criminal behavior continued, as did his close ties with fellow project ‘homeboys’, although it was moderated by his new dedication to academics and taking care of his ailing mother.

Additionally, his first ‘real’ job, a job he thought humiliating at first, working at McDonalds, a job he had to maintain or violate probation and go back to jail, surprisingly inspired him. He liked his manager at McDonalds and his interaction with people of various ethnic and racial backgrounds defeated many of his ingrained prejudices, fears and stereotypes.

A close family friend helped Mathis get admitted to Eastern Michigan University, and he discovered a new interest in politics and public administration. He became a campus activist and worked for the Democratic Party, organizing several successful demonstrations against South African Apartheid policies. He graduated with a B.S. Public Administration from the Ypsilanti campus and began to seek employment in Detroit’s City Hall. His mother’s death was difficult for him to handle at first, but he met his eventual wife shortly after her passing and Linda, a fellow EMU student, would grow into his soul mate, and the two would go on to have three children together.

Mathis began his political career as an unpaid intern, and his presence in Detroit’s City Hall was insignificant until he became an assistant to Clyde Cleveland, a city council member. It was at this time Mathis took the LSAT and applied to law schools and was fortunate enough to be conditionally admitted to the University of Detroit School of Law, which was in downtown Detroit, walking distance from city hall. He passed a summer course and was officially admitted to the night program which took four years to complete.

His career prospered when he was appointed head of Jesse Jackson’s Presidential campaign in the state of Michigan in 1988. Jackson won the Democratic primary, stunning eventual winner Michael Dukakis, and much of the nation. Mathis later became head of Mayor Coleman Young’s re-election campaign and after the victory was appointed to run the city’s east side city hall, a job that took much of his time, but made him certain he could make a difference in the lives of poor black people.

Mathis worked hard to win the judgeship in the city of Detroit but had many obstacles to overcome. He had failed the Michigan bar exam once, and was denied a license to practice law for several years after graduating from law school because of his criminal past. He had not accrued an extensive portfolio of legal work, and he was seen by the establishment as someone who lacked the necessary experience and insight to handle the hectic and heavy docket.

Yet in 1995, he was elected a superior court judge for Michigan’s 36th District, making him the youngest man in the state to hold the post. During the five years he was on the bench, he was rated in the top five of all judges in the 36th District.

Mathis was trying to have a movie made about his youth when a partner was contacted by Blackpearl Productions about starting a television show. After agreeing in principle, The Judge Mathis, began in 1999.

In 2001, Mathis appeared in “First Annual BET Awards” as himself. He also was a guest star as himself in the Steve Harvey show episode “Here Comes the Judge” and has been parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tracy Morgan in the “Judge Horace” persona.

A spiritually inspired play, Been there, Done that, based on his life toured twenty-two cities in the U.S. in 2002, and Inner City Miracle, a memoir was published by Ballatine Books. Mathis has been married to the former Linda Reese since 1985, and the couple has three children Camara, Greg Jr. & Amir.