Marilyn Milian (born May 1, 1961) is an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

, and retired

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Circuit Court

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. Since March 12, 2001, Milian has presided over the American courtroom television series ''

The People's Court ''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality sty ...

''. She 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 subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...

. Milian became the presiding judge on ''The People’s Court'' during the current edition's fourth season in 2001, replacing

Jerry Sheindlin Gerald "Jerry" Sheindlin (born November 19, 1933) is an American author, television personality, jurist and attorney. He spent many years as a trial judge serving the New York Supreme Court. After serving in the Army during the Korean War, Shei ...

, and has been with the program ever since; she surpassed

Joseph Wapner Joseph Albert Wapner (November 15, 1919 – February 26, 2017) was an American Judge and Television Personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the ongoing reality court show ''The People's Court''. The court show's firs ...

, the original presiding arbitrator, during the 2012–13 season as the longest serving judge across the entire history of the series.

Early life

Milian was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n parents Jorge, a

general contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor 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 course of ...

, 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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

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 borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

, to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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 research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. She then attended

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

, earning her J.D. She spent a year working at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, where she served as director of training for the

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

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 who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...

, 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. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...

appointed Milian to the Miami Circuit Court, where she served in the Criminal Division. In 2001, she replaced

as judge of ''The People's Court,'' and became the first Hispanic judge on any English-language television court show. Milian is 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, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school in ...

, teaching litigation skills.

''The People's Court''

Milian serves as presiding judge in the second life of the courtroom show ''

'', the first arbitration-based reality court show and the second-longest running court show in history. Milian has presided over the program since spring 2001, which was late in ''The People's Court''s 17th season (or fourth season of the revived version of the show). ''The People's Court'' has featured several

arbitrators An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may con ...

, with Milian currently holding the title of the longest-presiding arbitrator over the series. By 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

, the show's original judge, was the previous holder of this record. By 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, comedian, and producer. Strong is most notable for being a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is also the longest-tenured female cast member in the s ...

in a 2017 ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' 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 served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

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 in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

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 county in ...

, the same position that Milian held before retiring to host ''The People's Court''. They live in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

with their three children. She travels to

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, bimonthly for three days of taping of ''The People's Court''. Milian is the spokesperson for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

'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?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') 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 ...

'', winning $5,000 for Camp Fiesta, a Florida summer camp that is free for children with cancer.

Television credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milian, Marilyn 1961 births Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges American politicians of Cuban descent American women lawyers American women television personalities Florida lawyers Florida Republicans Florida state court judges Georgetown University Law Center alumni Harvard Law School people Hispanic and Latino American judges Hispanic and Latino American politicians Lawyers from Miami Lawyers from New York City People from Coral Gables, Florida Politicians from Miami Politicians from New York City Television judges University of Miami alumni Women in Florida politics American judges of Cuban descent