Does anybody know if these fines put on people by tv judges are payed and if so who pays ?
I believe the show pays any damages awarded to the plantif.
Moved to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Both plaintiff and defendant are paid to appear. When the judge levies a fine against the defendant, that amount is subtracted from the amount paid to the defendant and added to the amount paid to the plaintiff. Thus:
Plaintiff and Defendant both get $1000 to appear.
Judge fines Defendant $500
Plaintiff gets $1500, Defendant gets $500.
I’m not sure if they’re all the same, but on at least one both litigants get a fee just to show up, and the judgement is paid out of that fee.
It does vary. Judge Judy and others have ordered the transfer of property.
In some of them, the show has a fixed amount for each case (often the small claims court limit for their state). The ‘damages’ are paid out of that. Then any remaining money is split between the two sides.
So, for example, a case from a state with $3000 limit, the ‘Judge’ awards plaintiff $1800 from the shows’ $3000 budget. That leaves $1200, which is split, giving plaintiff & defendant $600 each.
This is separate and in addition to the base amount each participant gets for appearing, and their travel, hotel accomodations which are paid by the show.