Court is in Session

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN HOLDS “THE PEOPLE’S COURT”

FROM HER GABLES HOME

BY LIZZIE WILCOX

The popular television show

“The People’s Court” looks a little different this season. Instead of filming at their studio in Connecticut, all participants of the show appear digitally, including Judge Marilyn Milian – who appears from the living room of her Gables home. Of course, it won’t look like a living room, but like a courtroom/television set.

They began filming the season this summer when Connecticut had a two-week quarantine requirement for people traveling from several other states, including Florida. “The question became do we not tape, or do we try to give America what they want and figure out a way to do it from home?” said Judge Milian. There is still a skeleton crew at the Connecticut studio, but the judge, plaintiffs and defendants appear on screens in the “courtroom.”

For the judge, the biggest challenge in holding virtual court is the lack of separation between work and home.

“There’s no respite,” she says. The next biggest challenge is that her three daughters are all coming home for the holidays and there are lights and cameras where the Christmas tree usually sits. “It’s one thing to just work from your home, it’s another to have work take over your home.”

The show now also includes a segment called “After the Verdict,” where Judge Milian and her husband, Judge John Schlesinger, discuss cases and give legal advice.

“On top of the fact that we don’t leave our house, we also work together,” laughs Judge Milian, who has been a Gables resident since 1974. ■