Free Republic

Six years after TV video of her infamous outburst on the bench thrust her into controversy, former Superior Court Judge Maria Lopez is back in a black robe - and in front of the TV cameras. But now, controversy is welcome. She’s a TV judge. The syndicated show “Judge Maria Lopez” debuts Monday on 210 television stations nationwide, including Boston’s TV38. Lopez, 52, resigned from her Superior Court judgeship in 2003. She made headlines in 2000 when TV cameras captured her shouting at prosecutor David Deakin to “sit down now” after she handed a light sentence of house detention to...

BOSTON -- Maria Lopez could soon become Judge Lopez once again -- on television. Lopez, a former Massachusetts judge who resigned amid controversy over her conduct on the bench, is now being courted as a candidate for a legal television program in the same vein as "The People's Court" or "Judge Judy," according to her lawyer and her agent. George N. Tobia Jr., Lopez's attorney, said that he had been approached by an unnamed television network about finding a candidate for a legal program -- and Lopez immediately came to mind. "She was the first one who came to mind....

<p>By resigning, Lopez ended a tumultuous three-year battle to salvage her judicial career, opting for a far harsher punishment than the six-month suspension recommended by E. George Daher, retired chief judge of the Housing Court, while ignoring Daher's other recommendation, that she apologize for her conduct on the bench.</p>