Encourage judge in that case to release husband (7)
I believe the answer is:
hearten
'encourage' is the definition.
(heartening is a kind of encouraging)
'judge in that case to release husband' is the wordplay.
'judge' becomes 'hear' (as in to hear a court case).
'in that case' becomes 'then' (synonyms).
'to release' is a deletion indicator (letters are released or freed).
'husband' becomes 'h' (abbreviation).
'then' with 'h' taken out is 'ten'.
'hear'+'ten'='HEARTEN'
(Other definitions for hearten that I've seen before include "Encourage or cheer in cardiac manner" , "Encourage in Teheran" , "Buoy" , "Be encouraged" , "Make (someone) more confident" .)