Judge Joe Brown Arrested in Memphis

Joe Brown was arrested in court today, but did political theater play a role? Brown—the former star of Judge Joe Brown, which was canceled last year—arrived at Juvenile Court in Memphis and shook hands to promote his run for district attorney, the Commercial Appeal reports. He then went to court as an attorney and complained vehemently about delays. Brown "began a diatribe" against the judge in the case, said Court Chief Magistrate Dan Michael. The judge "advised Mr. Brown that he needed to desist," but he refused and "continued acting up."

Held in contempt of court, Brown got five days in jail; his bail request was denied and he's being held alone for safety reasons, WREG reports. Meanwhile, his campaign Facebook page has changed its image to Martin Luther King, Jr., during a Civil Rights arrest in the 1960s: "This is not any different than when Martin Luther King was jailed repeatedly, while fighting for our rights," the site says. But Michael refused to call the arrest a political stunt: "Within five minutes there were three or four different attorneys down here seeking to represent him," he said. "You can draw whatever conclusion you want to draw." For audio of Brown's courtroom diatribe, check out TMZ. (More judge stories.)