Judgment Day

Everyone has their day in court. Lucky for us, a lot of people choose to have that day on national television.

There are a lot of court shows on the air these days. Sometimes it seems as if they are the only thing on. There’s The People’s Court, Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Jude Mathis, Judge Alex, Judge Hatchett, Cristina’s Court, Judge Maria Lopez, Divorce Court, Judge Jeanie Pirro, and Judge David Young.

The one court show that stands out from the pack, in ratings as well as overall entertainment value, is Judge Judy. Presiding arbiter Judith Sheindlin is a no-nonsense legal powerhouse with the refined skill of narrowing down the truth in a matter of minutes.

Judge Judy and shows like it involve soliciting the participation of people who have filed small claims court cases. If both parties of the lawsuit are willing, Sheindlin hears the case in her television courtroom. She then renders a verdict that is binding under the rules of arbitration that the parties have agreed to prior to the hearing.

Participants are paid for their appearance on Judge Judy. There is a production fund that pays any monetary judgment to the winning litigant. The balance of that fund is then divided between the parties.

One of Sheindlin’s strongest skills is her ability to ask a series of investigative questions that leads the person she is interviewing to give her the truthful answers she desires. She is very intolerant of deception and is known for getting to the bottom of the issues at hand quickly and without listening to irrelevant testimony.

Sheindlin was appointed as a judge in the New York Family Court system in 1982 by Mayor Ed Koch. In 1986, she was named Supervising Judge for the Manhattan District where she heard over 20,000 cases. She was known as a tough but fair judge with an open-court policy and an emphasis on personal responsibility.

A 1993 article in the Los Angeles Times profiled Sheindlin, which led to a 60 Minutes interview that gave her national exposure. She retired from the bench in 1996 and began a second career as “Judge Judy.”

With an estimated 10 million viewers, Sheindlin is one of the highest paid personalities on television, earning over $30 million a year. She has authored four books based on her experiences, Don’t Pee On My Leg And Tell Me It’s Raining (1996), Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever (1999), Keep It Simple, Stupid (2000), and a children’s book, Win Or Lose By How You Choose (2000).

By all accounts, Sheindlin is not someone you would want to run into in a legal dark alley.

“The time for change was yesterday,” says Sheindlin. “The time to wake up is now.”