Protection Court

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.

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] 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.

[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.

Judge Carroll J. Kelly in 2017