In 'Stay in Your Lane: Judge Karen's Guide to Living Your Best Life,' Karen Mills-Francis, a Miami family court judge, writes a compendium of life lessons gleaned from more than 13 years of criminal court experience.

She is the star of the popular syndicated courtroom program 'Judge Karen.'

On Monday, she will launch a new nationally syndicated courtroom program, 'Judge Karen's Court,' produced by Litton Entertainment, which will air in all major markets.

BlackVoices.com caught up to the busy judge. Excerpts of the conversation are below.


BlackVoices: As the second African American woman elected as a judge in Miami, and as an officer of the law who has tried your share of criminal cases, you must have an opinion about what we're seeing in the headlines every day as it relates to celebrities and their brushes with the law. Do you believe that celebrities are treated differently or fairly within the judicial system?

Judge Karen Mills-Francis: As a judge handling a DUI calendar, I had a few cases of athletes charged with drunk driving. In each of the cases, I thought that the plea agreements reached by the prosecutor's office and the celebrity's attorneys often were more lenient than offers extended in other cases. Unfortunately, money can buy a person the best defense team possible, and that equates to better criminal sentencing.

BV: Your new television show, 'Judge Karen's Court,' premieres nationwide Sept. 20. What can viewers expect from your show that they are not seeing on other daytime courtroom shows?

JMF: Me! I mean, obviously I've got my burgundy robe and blond hair, but there really is no other judge on television like Judge Karen Mills-Francis. Period. The other TV judges, some of whom I know personally, are lovely, capable people, but I don't see any of them with the same sensitivity, honesty and drive to make things right the way I do.

BV: Although you did not coin the phrase "stay in your lane," it has become a mantra most associated with you and your approach to how you handle cases in your courtroom. Now, it is part of the title of your new book. What inspired you to write the book, and what do you hope readers will take away from it?

JMF: To me, "stay in your lane,'' refers to having a life of direction and purpose that you are in control of. In my courtroom, I see so many people lost in the darkness of their lives. I hope that somehow my book helps turn on the light by offering my thoughts and perhaps some answers to help them live fully and happily by trusting their own instincts. I also hope it helps them to find the moral compass we were all born with. Sometimes that compass may not have been cultivated by those responsible for their upbringing.

BV: One of those stories in the book is about what you call your "wake-up moment.'' Can you expand on that?

JMF: In the first chapter, I recount how I was afraid of appearing poor and out of place at a lawyer event because I was driving a beat up old car. My "aha moment" came when I realized that the thing that made me fear being ridiculed was a feeling of inferiority that I carried around from childhood. My awakening was understanding that in order to fulfill my lifelong dreams, I had to release my childhood fears.

BV: What have you found to be the most challenging or the most rewarding part about being a judge and making decisions that ultimately will affect people's life?

JMF: The most rewarding aspect of being a judge is meeting people who come up after court to thank me for positively impacting their lives, whether it was through intervention programs or through timely advice. I feel like I have been able to have a meaningful impact on the lives of children and adults.