Once in awhile some pretty shady characters show up in Judge Judy’s make believe court.
Today, they got one that is probably headed to prison. Started out like most cases. Best friends suing over money. One lady had her friend do her taxes and efile with tax software on the computer. Tax refund never shows up. She contacts the IRS and they send her info on where the money was direct deposited. It went to her best friends bank account (conveniently listed under her 2 year old daughter’s SSN).
Judy, as usual interrogates both parties. Looks at the IRS letter. The lady who did the taxes swears the money never went into her account. Judy decides she wants the bank to fax her two months of statements (I think March, April).
Recess
Judy comes back looking more pissed than I’ve ever seen her. :eek: That’s saying a lot. Judy is always pissed about something. The bank statements show multiple tax refunds were deposited in that account. Perhaps a dozen? Usually followed the next day by a ATM withdrawal by the tax lady. :dubious:
Judy advices her to say nothing and get a lawyer. Tax lady blabs on and on. I never knew about that money. I swear. blah , blah blah
I’m pretty sure stealing IRS refunds is a federal offense. Tax lady is probably looking at some serious prison time.
Judy - rather sternly warns tax lady someone will be looking into this!
Even then, tax lady goes out in the hall. Playing all innocent. Lying out her ass.
I don’t know how anyone can hang onto a lie that long.
Damn! We missed a good one! I love it when Judge Judy yells at people and kicks them out of her courtroom (telling someone to shut up and get a lawyer would also qualify).
Does anyone ever get charged with perjury after the show? (Or any of the court shows?)
Whenever I watch they make a point of swearing everyone but if someone gets caught in an obvious lie they get a stern lecture and then it seems like it’s dropped.
TV Courts have no power. The judge is acting as a private arbitrator between the two parties. Both parties have agreed to accept the judges decision. I assume they’ve also agreed to stand quietly while Judge Judy lectures them in front of the cameras.
I’ve always heard both parties get paid for appearing on the tv show. Any judgments come out of that money. I’ve never seen a cite to confirm this, but it’s what I’ve always heard.
The ebay scammer is probably my favorite episode. I thought Judy was going to bitch slap the bitch.
The most irritating thing is her always questioning the litigants about things like marriage and kids. “Are you married? But you have four kids? And you receive state benefits? WHY ARE YOU HAVING ANOTHER ONE THEN!”
I understand her frustration with a lot of these people, but it’s very rarely relevant to the case at hand. If she were still a “real” judge there probably would have been professional complaints lobbied at her.
She was a real judge for quite a while. The reason she has a show now is because she was becoming quite famous in NYC for being acerbic. 60 Minutes (or one of those shows) did a segment on her that I believe led to her tv show.
Judy was a family court judge. That can be a tough job emotionally. The judge deals with divorce settlements, child custody, support payments, abused kids etc. 20 years of that can harden anyone.
I can’t imagine hearing Judy’s voice 24/7. Her husband is a brave man to endure her lectures.
Judge Judy is one of my guilty pleasures! I don’t think I could stand to watch it, though, if I didn’t have a DVR. So much commercial time in proportion to Judy-Going-Postal-On-Morons time!
One of my favorite Judy lines ever: “You know how I know you’re lying? Because what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. When something doesn’t make any sense, it’s because it’s not true!”
Didn’t see the taxes episode. I do hope the feds nail her ass, though!
You know what would be a hoot? To go out to a bar one night after taping, with Judy and Bird. I bet they’re both a riot after a couple of cocktails!
They do get paid out of a fund. The winner gets the amount of the settlement and then they split whats left. So the defendant doesn’t lose anything except pride. The disclaimer explaining this is at the end of the credits for every judge show.
This was my experience when I was on Wapner’s People’s Court in the 80’s.
I won the case, but the other guy also got a small amount $$ for being on the show.
Essentially this is how all TV courts work; the parties sign an agreement releasing any other claim on the matter to be decided, and appointing the TV judge as an arbitrator in accordance with the laws of the State of California (the show tries to give the impression that it’s set in Judge Judy’s home state of New York, but it’s filmed in Hollywood.) Judith Shiendlin is working as a arbitrator, not a judge.
It is possible, however, for a case in the “Judge Judy” show to end up in the courts anyway; once in a great while, Judge Judy will dismiss the case without prejudice because there just aren’t sufficient facts on which to make a decision. I’ve seen at least one such case, though I suspect most of them don’t make it on the air. My understanding is that the participants are invited to return if they can present more evidence but they could also just go to court.
The judgments are paid by the producers, unless the order is for someone to give stuff to the other person. On the whole it costs the show very little, though, when you think about it; I think the show’s judgment limit is five thousand bucks, and most cases aren’t worth that much.
As for the case in the OP, however, obviously that lady is in a world of trouble; criminal matters are way outside an arbitrator’s purview, which is why Ms. Sheindlin was strenously suggesting the lady shut her yap and get a lawyer.
I remember one episode of that the plaintiff thanked him for a favorable verdict by saying “You go Judge Judy’s husband!”. He took it on the chin but I’m guessing it got old.
According to an article I recently read, discounting Oprah (who actually owns her show due to brilliant business sense back in the 80s) Judge Judy is the highest paid daytime star. By the time her contract is up she’ll have earned over $100 million from the show.
I like Judge Judy best because she tries hard to keep the proceedings focused on the case. She doesn’t let it wander too far into personal stuff.
I find some of the tv court shows unwatchable. They are mostly reality soap operas. My best friend did this… then she screwed my boyfriend. kicked my dog None of that has anything to do with the loan she didn’t payback. Judge Hatchett is really bad about getting into personal stuff. Judge Mathis wants to save every troubled kid. yikes!
I’ve heard a couple of people say that Judge Marilyn Milian of People’s Court is way sexy in person, and very nice to her fans.
Judge Joe Brown seems like he’d probably be the biggest horse’s ass off-screen (judging not just from his own show but his appearances on talk shows). He’s very ornery.
I have a weakness for Judge Mathis because he’s one of the few who will break up laughing at litigants he things are morons or just over-the-top and seems to understand how a couple of sprinkles of Springer help the ratings. I also like his asides to the camera, such as “I have a kid at Princeton*, a kid at Vanderbilt*, a kid at the University of Chicago*, and one at home who wants to be a doctor- for the love of God please keep watching this show for the next few years!” (*I don’t remember the names of the colleges, just that they were all well known and expensive.)
Judge Judy’s bailiff, Petri Hawkins-Byrd, is also successful on the speaking circuit and even bills himself as “America’s Highest Paid Bailiff”. He once planned to get a law degree, but when asked on an interview if he still wanted one he basically said “Are you crazy? Do you know how much money I’d lose if I went to law school?” He and Judge Judy were together when she was still a FC judge.
Stand-up comedians used to make jokes about the fact Judge Wapner’s bailiff, Rusty Burrell, carried a gun. Rusty was, just for trivia sake, bailiff at some of the Manson trials and is mentioned in the book Helter Skelter because he was present at an otherwise private talk Bugliosi had with Manson and had to give evidence that they weren’t discussing anything inappropriate.
The bank statements show multiple tax refunds were deposited in that account. Perhaps a dozen? Usually followed the next day by a ATM withdrawal by the tax lady. :dubious: