Allison Gilman
Introduction
Allison Gilman, a Broward County Court judge in Florida’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, is under fire after court footage showed her asking a domestic battery defendant for cooking advice during his bond hearing β how to grill the perfect steak, how to keep one from turning chewy β after learning he worked as a chef at a Fort Lauderdale sports bar. The exchange, captured in footage obtained by WSVN and picked up nationally by the New York Post, drew sharp criticism from a domestic violence advocate who said it tells survivors they “may not get the justice” they need, while Broward’s chief judge acknowledged only that the office was aware of the clip. Gilman set the defendant’s bond at $1,500 and said she would have to visit the restaurant where he works.
Background Information
Gilman was elected to the Broward County Court bench in 2020 after earning a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Florida State University and a law degree from St. Thomas University, and previously worked as a criminal defense attorney. She serves on the county court’s civil and criminal bench in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Broward County, with her courtroom and division listed on the circuit’s official judiciary roster.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Courtroom conduct, not criminal charges. Gilman faces no criminal allegation; the criticism documented here concerns her conduct on the bench during a bond hearing. The domestic battery allegations against defendant Christopher Johnson are charging-document claims he has not been tried on, and he is presumed innocent. No disciplinary action against Gilman had been announced as of the latest reporting.
The incident played out on Monday, October 19, 2026, when Christopher Johnson β arrested that day after Sunrise police said he argued with his ex-girlfriend, pulled her hair and punched her in the mouth, leaving her with a busted lip β appeared before Gilman for his bond hearing on a domestic battery charge. When Gilman learned Johnson is a chef, the hearing turned to food: “If you were going to cook me a dish, what would it be?” she asked. Johnson answered “steak on the grill, man,” and Gilman recounted her own grilling failures β “I either burn it on the outside and then it’s not cooked enough on the inside, or I just overcook it.” Johnson demonstrated turning the steak “ten o’clock, two o’clock,” and Gilman pressed on: “You mean turn the steak?” and “How do you not make a steak chewy? That’s also another β but that’s for another day, I guess.”
The cooking talk was woven through the business of the hearing. Gilman set bond at $1,500, asked Johnson whether he could afford it, and on his “yes” replied, “Of course you can. With those kinds of things you’re cooking” β adding that she would “have to” visit Slackers, the sports bar where Johnson works. “There are so many restaurants I have to go to and, yeah, I’ll see you at Slackers. What do I order at Slackers? Is it the wings?” she said. WSVN’s account of the arrest report notes Johnson “continued to change his statements” to officers and that his accounts “did not match any of the injuries observed”; court records also show a prior aggravated battery arrest involving the same woman when she was pregnant with their child.
Nor was it the first food-focused moment on her bench. Earlier in October, while presiding over an unrelated case involving a man who said he worked at a seafood restaurant, Gilman joked that she was not going to get into her “shrimp-making abilities.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
Reaction split. WSVN reported that some viewers described the bond court exchange as “completely inappropriate” while others argued it was “a refreshing display of kindness.” Domestic violence advocates were not divided. Dr. Linda Parker, CEO of Women in Distress, told WSVN: “Turn the steak? What? We’re talking about steak in a domestic violence case?” and said the exchange “just tells survivors, ‘I may not get the justice that I need.’” “This is not indicative of how this should look at all and I hope that something gets said to the judge,” she added. The clip spread widely after WSVN’s October 22 report, and the New York Post carried it nationally two days later.
Current Status
Gilman remains on the Broward County Court bench. No reassignment, disciplinary referral, or public comment from Gilman or her office had been reported as of October 24, 2026; the chief judge in Broward told WSVN they were aware of the viral clip but did not provide further comment. Johnson, for his part, has bonded out of jail and been ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim, whose domestic battery case against him remains unresolved in the reporting.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The steak episode has attached itself to Gilman’s name in national coverage of how bond courts handle domestic violence cases β and it landed weeks after the “shrimp-making abilities” exchange, a pattern WSVN flagged explicitly, handing advocates a second data point in their call for judicial oversight. The consequence so far is reputational: a viral clip, an advocacy organization saying it hopes “something gets said to the judge,” and a chief judge’s office that acknowledged the footage without defending it. Whether Florida’s judicial-qualifications machinery takes any notice remains unreported; until something does, the record shows a sitting judge who traded grilling tips with a man police said had just punched his ex-girlfriend’s mouth bloody.
Sources
- New York Post, “Florida judge under fire after asking domestic violence suspect for cooking advice in court,” October 24, 2026 β source
- WSVN 7News (Miami/Fort Lauderdale), “In bond court, Broward judge asks domestic violence suspect for cooking advice after learning he is a chef,” October 22, 2026 β source
- PompanoBeach.News, “Broward bond judge’s exchange with chef charged in Sunrise domestic battery case draws attention,” October 22, 2026 β source
- Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, “County Court Civil and Criminal” (judiciary roster), accessed October 24, 2026 β source
- X (@nypost), “Florida judge under fire after asking domestic violence suspect for cooking advice in court,” October 24, 2026 β source