Protection Court Explained

Genre:	Reality court show
Executive Producer:	Scott Sternberg Hank Cohan Phil Belmonte
Producer:	Javier Romero Mayra Rocha
Editor:	Jay Bowman Kevin Connolly Richard Hyatt Joel Ray
Starring:	Carroll Kelly (judge) Ceneca Valdez (bailiff)
Narrator:	Dean Shull
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Runtime:	19 minutes
Company:	Scott Sternberg Productions Trifecta Entertainment & Media
Network:	Syndicated
Num Seasons:	1
Num Episodes:	110

Protection Court is an American court show and reality television series starring Judge Carroll Kelly and produced by Trifecta Entertainment & Media with Scott Sternberg Productions.

Synopsis

The show features real cases of people seeking restraining orders at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse in Miami, presided over by Judge Carroll Kelly, who has served as administrative judge for the domestic violence division of Dade County, FL for 22 years. Both the producer Scott Sternberg, and Judge Kelly made statements prior to the original release of the show describing their thoughts on what the show was about. They said that real people from the public would be entering into a real courtroom situation, and that the show would not only benefit its participants, but would also serve as an educational and informational tool for viewers who might be in similar situations.^[1] ^[2]

Production

In 2018, prior to the filming of Protection Court, the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee released an opinion that the decision as to 'Whether a judge may permit court cases to be filmed and televised' should be made by court administration, since it was not an ethical issue.^[3] Subsequently, the filming of Protection Court was approved of by the court administration.^[4]

Trifecta Entertainment stated that a motivating factor behind the production of the show was the prevalence of intimate partner and domestic violence in the United States, affecting 1 in 4 women, 1 in 10 men, and 1 in 15 children.^[5] The show originally aired from 2019 to 2020 in broadcast syndication. It went out of production due to issues related to the Coronavirus pandemic, but was later licensed for broadcast by Law&Crime on March 21, 2022.^[5] ^[6]

Controversy

In 2020, Protection Court drew controversial media attention when the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission filed a complaint against Kelly related to the show, due to allegations of litigants being filmed without their consent, and allegations that Kelly "made misleading statements" to the court administration when seeking approval to film the show.^[7] The show continued to air during the investigation.^[4] ^[8] ^[9] Some of the arguments made by Kelly include the facts that footage of litigants who did not give consent was not used in the show, and that the JQC was in violation of a settlement agreement where Kelly agreed to stop participating in the show. Kelly had stopped participating, but episodes continued to air using previous footage. The case against her was dropped.^[7] ^[10] ^[11]

External links

- - - (Contains clips from the show)

Notes and References

Web site: WNY native Judge Carroll Kelly starring in Protection Court on CW 23 . wivb.com . October 9, 2019 . April 15, 2023 . April 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401082654/https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/buffalo/wny-native-judge-carroll-kelly-starring-in-protection-court-on-cw-23/ . live .
Web site: 'Protection Court' to Premiere in Syndication This Fall . May 6, 2019 . NextTV . November 25, 2021 . November 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211125222842/https://www.nexttv.com/news/protection-court-to-premiere-in-syndication-this-fall . live .
Fla. JEAC. 2018-23. September 26, 2018. https://jeac.flcourts.gov/Opinions-by-Year/2018-JEAC-Opinions/2018-23.
Web site: Miami domestic-violence judge faces discipline over filming of 'Protection Court' TV show . Miami Herald . David Ovalle . August 10, 2021 . August 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210810224141/https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article242546006.html . live .
Web site: 'Protection Court' Heads to Law&Crime Network . nexttv.com . March 21, 2022 . April 15, 2023 . April 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401081337/https://www.nexttv.com/news/protection-court-heads-to-lawandcrime-network . live .
Web site: Law&Crime Network Picks Up 'Protection Court' From Trifecta Entertainment . tvnewscheck.com . March 21, 2022 . April 15, 2023 . April 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401081220/https://tvnewscheck.com/programming/article/lawcrime-network-picks-up-protection-court-from-trifecta-entertainment/ . live .
INQUIRY CONCERNING A JUDGE NO. 19-377 VS RE: CARROLL KELLY. Fla.. February 2, 2021. . https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cgjSfKE6VOrHj6KIlo8zX90wrN3MggeE/view .
Web site: Florida judge faces allegations over TV show filmed in her courtroom . orlandoweekly.com . April 15, 2023 . April 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401081213/https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida-judge-faces-allegations-over-tv-show-filmed-in-her-courtroom-27271913 . live .
Web site: Florida judge violated ethics rules by turning court into reality show . New York Post . May 7, 2020 . April 16, 2023 . April 1, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401075829/https://nypost.com/2020/05/07/judge-violated-ethics-rules-by-turning-court-into-reality-show/ . live .
Web site: Ethics case tossed against judge accused of allowing reality TV show to film in her courtroom . ABA Journal . November 25, 2021 . November 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211125223731/https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ethics-case-tossed-against-judge-over-filming-of-reality-tv-showin-her-courtroom . live .
Web site: Case Dismissed: Miami Judge Emerges From Ethics Battle Over Court TV Show . law.com . April 15, 2023 . April 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230415222208/https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2021/02/03/charges-dropped-miami-judge-emerges-from-ethics-battle-over-court-tv-show/ . live .