Judge Greg Mathis

Greg Mathis
Mathis with his wife Linda in December 2010
Judge 36th District Court of the State of Michigan
In office 1995–1998
Personal details
Born	Gregory Ellis Mathis (1960-04-05) April 5, 1960 (age 57) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Linda Reese (m. 1985)
Children	Amir Mathis Camara Mathis Jade Mathis Greg Mathis Jr.
Alma mater	Eastern Michigan University University of Detroit
Occupation	Judge, writer

Gregory Ellis "Greg" Mathis (born April 5, 1960) is a retired Michigan 36th District Court judge and syndicated television show arbiter on the long-running reality courtroom show Judge Mathis. Produced in Chicago, Illinois, the program has been on the air since 1999 and is currently into its 19th season as of September 4, 2017. Mathis boasts the longest reign of any African American presiding as a court show judge, beating out Judge Joe Brown whose program lasted 15 seasons. Mathis is also the second longest serving television arbitrator ever, behind Judith Sheindlin of Judge Judy.

A spiritually inspired play, Been there, Done that, based on his life toured twenty-two cities in the U.S. in 2002. In addition, Inner City Miracle, a memoir, was published by Ballantine Books.

Mathis was born in Detroit, Michigan, was the fourth of four boys born to Charles Mathis, a Detroit native, and his wife Alice Lee Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist, nurse's aide, and housekeeper. Alice (then divorced from Charles) raised Mathis alone in Detroit during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.

Judge Mathis' real father was estranged from him, but associated closely with the Errol Flynns, a past notorious Detroit street gang, that Mathis would eventually join while a teenager. In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. While he was incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen-year-old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Mathis was offered early probation because of his mother's illness.