Judicial Tourism

California twins drawn to St. Joe County

By Rick Cordes

C-N Correspondent

It all started with that viral video—the one where St. Joseph County District Court Judge Jeffrey Middleton, during a March 2021 Zoom courtroom session, realizes that the on-screen defendant in a domestic violence case is standing in an apartment just feet away from the alleged victim.

Police arrive quickly, arrest the alleged perpetrator, and Middleton orders bond cancelled as the defendant is led away towards jail, all on camera.

Compelling viewing, seen now over 1.3 million times, including by California twin sisters Martha and Julie Stroud, who became fascinated by Middleton’s courtroom proceedings and immersed themselves in St. Joseph County jurisprudence.

“We started watching the livestream every day,” Martha said during a recent interview. “We were getting to know the prosecutors, the deputy.”

“We would see every step in the process,” Julie said. “We learned a ton!”

Echoed Martha, “We learned a ton about the law, the people in the courtroom, and the ‘frequent flyers’ (defendants) that we’d get to recognize.”

So familiar did the sisters become, that they felt a next step would be to send Middleton “a funny mug” imprinted with the standard legal recitation that Michigan judges proclaim to defendants in a case, a recitation the Strouds pronounced in unison during their interview for this article.

“We sent it with a message,” Martha said, adding that they looked up Michigan laws so they wouldn’t get into Michigan legal trouble.

“I didn’t know these ladies,” Judge Middleton said, reporting his surprise to receive a fan mail mug from afar. Other mugs followed and Middleton checked in with the Michigan Supreme Court’s office to be clear about the legal and ethical protocols involved.

Martha and Julie weren’t the only ones becoming entranced by real-life St. Joseph County courtroom drama. “People started to watch from all over the place,” Middleton said, adding that initially it was a learning process to manage the online responses to Zoom courtroom proceedings.

The Strouds weren’t just learning about courtroom proceedings. “We were also learning about St. Joseph County” through Middleton’s vast knowledge of the same, Julie said. “He knows everybody, what building is on what corner. He’s bringing this whole little corner of Michigan to life.”

However, while the twins were becoming ever-more entranced by their virtual visits to St. Joseph County, life in California took a sharp turn for them. “Martha got a cancer diagnosis,” Julie said. Cancer treatments began.

“Sitting through the early treatments” the twins had a dream, Julie said. “Maybe someday we’ll go to St. Joseph County.”

“We were still watching Judge Middleton every day. (It was) still a place to go away from this struggle.”

Julie and Martha had been (and continue) leading robust lives. Martha is the associate director for the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, with a Ph.D. in anthropology, specializing in Indonesia, and Julie is a grief and loss counseling social worker based in Berkeley California

Working through the cancer battle, the twins developed travel plans. “Maybe we’ll go, and go to the same places we’ve heard about.” After all, they’d already placed a long-distance order from Centreville’s Yoders Country Market.

And, more importantly, they’d begun taking an active—although cross country—role in the county. “We were reading all the newspapers. We were giving donations to United Way. We felt that we were participating in the community—active participants as much as we could be from California,” Julie said.

Then came great news. Martha successfully completed her treatments and Julie, who had been enrolled in graduate school, finished her studies. The time seemed right to go east.

They knew just where they’d stay if they traveled to Michigan. “The Judge always talked about Fisher Lake,” Julie said. So, sorting through Airbnb listings, the Stroud sisters found a cottage on the water.

“We booked out flights, booked a car,” and the adventure began

They arrived in St. Joseph County in August of 2022. “We drove to every city and township,” Martha said. “We recognized every place, and pulled over to take pictures.”

“We were driving around exclaiming, ‘landmarks!’”, recognizing the “landmarks” as places that had popped up in landlord/tenant cases in Middleton’s court. They also drove up to many of the other addresses that had appeared frequently in district court cases. They sought out the office buildings of attorneys who’d often been involved in the courtroom.

“We met defense lawyers, deputies. To us, they were celebrities!” Julie said. “To them, we were two tall twin sisters from California.”

Middleton, who lives at Fisher Lake, was out boating one day and noticed two ladies on the shoreline. “Next day I saw them in court.”

Through their regular attendance in court sessions, Middleton got to know the Strouds and formed a friendship. He said that he’d suggest interesting places and people to visit, even recommending that they visit Mackinac Island (which they did.)

“They immersed themselves,” Middleton said.

The Strouds brought with them a perspective they’d gleaned from hundreds of hours of court TV. They knew of the county’s meth problems, of mental illness issues, and of local poverty. What truly impressed them was how Judge Middleton handled such cases.

“…So much respect, compassion. He endowed them with so much humanity,” Julie said. “He made us care about the community.”

A particular instance helped inform the twins’ perspective. “Last December an apartment’s pipe burst,” Martha remembered. “People needed a place to stay. So, all these people and agencies came together. An adult services person was the first to intervene.” In response, the Strouds sent her a “little memo.” “Bravo,” it said. “Thank you for what you did.”

The first of what are now three visits to St. Jospeh County by the Stroud twins lasted one week. This past summer there were two more visits, one in May, the other in late August.

The May trip was to focus on people, Julie said. Every day included sitting through complete courtroom sessions, and Middleton helped direct the twins to interesting county residents. The August visit’s focus was on building relationships, Julie reported, and “letting people know how we fell in love with St. Joseph County” and the kindness and generosity that they perceive here.

“We love this place and it loves us back,” Martha said.

Middleton emphasized what he believes is the overarching message the Strouds impart to local residents.

“They reminded us (at a Three Rivers Rotary Club session) how fortunate we are to live here. It’s sort of humbling that they picked this (place) to focus attention on. They’re very intelligent women.”

The twins reported that their father, Barry Stroud, a world-renowned philosopher and a very skilled athlete, raised in Canada, had sometimes visited Michigan. “Maybe something in our DNA” contributed to the inclination towards St. Joseph County, Martha mused.

Martha and Julie wanted residents of St Joseph County to know something important about where this part of Southwest Michigan resides in cyberspace.

“We are two people—but there is a whole community of people who watch Judge Middleton every day,” Martha said. That audience began with the viral video and has since mushroomed.

“People started to gather online to discuss his proceedings—on Reddit, Discord, Facebook. There is a Jeff Middleton fan club,” Martha said.

“I understand people being fascinated,” she added.

Middleton underscores the astonishing reach of the county’s judicial aura. “There’s a Judge Middleton Facebook group,” he said. Over 500 subscribers log in, including folks from Russia, Australia, and the Faroe Islands. Many, of course, are US based from states such as Oklahoma, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, as well as from a number of locations in Michigan.

The twins report that the online interest isn’t just casual. “A lot wish they could visit St. Joseph County,” Marsha said.

Middleton concurs. “Yeah, people come here to see the court live and in person. Guys come and bring bus passes.”

“They care about this community the same way we do,” Martha said. “I think that there are even more who want to support it but don’t know how.” The Strouds have gone so far as to investigate starting a fund that others could contribute to.

“We’re enchanted by it (SJC),” Julie said. “We’ve inserted ourselves into it.”