What’s wrong with them? You may not find them enjoyable. I only ever saw Judge Judy and the old People’s Court with Judge Wapner. But I’m not getting where ‘abhorent’ comes from. These are small claims cases, mostly real as far as I can tell, and unlike the real court system, these claimants have a chance of collecting on their judgements from the TV show.
I remember the ancient Jude Wapner cases: man claims dachshund damaged his car on impact, woman sued for running over kids bike, man sued for car damages to Norwegian lady’s car on the 4th of July when he said “sure you can park in that abandoned lot.” Those were stupid, and the outcome was based on what the producers wanted NOT ON RETIRED JUDGE WAPNER’S OPINION, and not abhorrent.
But the current crop, where someone loans someone money for their car payments, so they don’t lose their job, but they lose it on an unrelated criminal indictment, and they’re suing for their money back, but they had developed a physical relationship in the meantime, and Jude Joe Brown goes “Aw, Hell, Naw” Yeah, those, fall under the heading abhorrent, for me. IMHO.
[ETA]
So why am I watching? I don’t, really. I’m just waiting for the Simpsons to start. Reruns of Judge Joe Brown were important half hour filler between American Idol rewrap, before Simpson reruns start on Sunday. Thankfully, football now fills Fox’s Sunday deadtime to cartoons. God, that was weird to type.
BTW, do trolls count as a racial minority?
I monitored all of the court shows yesterday and caught up on all of the People’s Court on my DVR…
Gloria Allred - didn’t know she had a show. I didn’t count her because of the liklihood that she has an agenda. That was based on my knowledge of her and the first case which was about a guy who gave his girlfriend an STD…allegedly.
Judge Alex - two cases; four parties…all black
Judge Ross - this is a new one for me too. I think it is based in LA which might explain in part the three hispanics and five whites involved
Judge Mathis - pretty sure this one is based in Detroit. Of the eight parties involved, four were black, one was mixed, one was Hispanic and two were white.
Judge Joe Brown - Eight parties…half black and half white
Based on tha above, it seems pretty clear that blacks make up more than 12.6% of the cases although the sample of each show are pretty low.
I had more People’s Court than any of the others which breaks down as follows"
Whites - 11 …61
Blacks - 6 …33
Hispanics - 0…0
Asian - 1 …6
Conclusion based on the above: blacks are over-represented; Hispanics are under.
'Cos Snagg Snoggsson and Snogg Snaggsson were really getting into it on Judge Joe Brown last week . . . Something about the Enchanted Tarnhelm of North Malden . . .
Not quite. What is the margin of error in your survey?
Also, note that 4/6 of the Blacks in your survey came from Detroit. Detroit is > 80% Black. Casting a net wider, Wayne County is 42% Black.
Judge Mathis is from Detroit originally, but the broadcasts are from Chicago.
Is there, perhaps, something culturally or genetically dysfunctional about Chicagoans, that causes them to be overrepresented on court TV shows?
I didn’t know that now we’re all engaging in Great Scientific Debates … is Peer Review next?
Note that the last group of figures are for People’s Court only. The 33% doesn’t even factor in the 100% black for Judge Alex and the 50% for JJB and Mathis both.
It ain’t IMHO, either. You’re assuming the overrepresentation of minorities in court shows and posing what might with kindness be called a debate as to why. That assumption is, by your admission, based purely on your personal anecdotal observations. Ya really didn’t think nobody was gonna call you on that? In a forum where even “this is just my best guess but” can sometimes be fair grounds for “Cite?”?
Over-represented based on what? Based on the racial break down of the USA? Wiki cites that blacks make up 12.6% of the US, so that’s clearly what you were after. The only time I ever catch a court show is if it happens to be on in the back ground. ISTM, (like someone mentioned up thread) that the show isn’t about race, but class. Can we find a racial break down of lower class America? I just don’t think most middle and upper class people are going to small claims court over a $400 rent check and a keyed car. Upperclass people will settle it on their own, middle class people will go to small claims, but probably not on TV.
Also, I’ll add in that I think some people are doing it purely for their 15 minutes (or the money) as I know every couple of years they find out a case is fake and you have to assume for every one they catch there have to be a handful of people that don’t get caught. There’s really no way for the judge to know that I didn’t go to ‘my ex’s’ house and steal a bunch of stuff and burn it as long as we keep our stories straight.
In the end it’s going to come down to whatever gets the best ratings. If putting minorities on gets the best ratings, that’s what they’re going to do.
Well, posting theories in GD (or elsewhere on the SDMB) is a peer review itself.
Chicago is 32% Black.
Well, yeah. Your whole thesis is based on something that is, quite easily, measured. You haven’t yet measured it.
True enough. Trump does not need to humiliate himself on TV for money.
And rumor* has it a great many more rich people pay for humiliation in private.
- The one I’m starting now, that is.
And 68% cholesterol.
I love that thread… if Brainy G doesn’t bring it up once every six months or so I start to wonder.
I understand …just find it interesting that the standards often vary depending on the subject matter.
Note that the OP was based simply on observation and asked for opinions … perhaps GD was not the right spot, but I don’t think there is anything mundane or humble about racial issues.
But look at all the other areas minorities are over represented. How many white boxers do you know? Or other pro athletes? In Chicago the US census say 1.2 million people speak Spanish. That’s about 12.5% of the metro population.
Yet of the 15 TV stations we have (full power) 3 are Spanish. Which is 20% of the total full power TV stations. And that leaves out the low power TV stations geared toward Spanish.
The 2010 Census says the make up is
White 72.4%
Black 12.6%
Asians 4.8%
Native American (includes Native Alaskan) 0.9%
Native Hawaiian 0.2%
Mixed Race 2.9%
Non Reporting 6.2%
Hispanics make up 16.3%
Note: Hispanics can be of any race, that’s why they are reported separately
White of Non-Hispanic origin are 63%
Also note since race / Hispanic origin are self assesment it can be off, as anyone can choose any race or whether they are or are not Hispanic, without any disqualification.