Judge Judy

Real cases. Real people. Judge Judy.

Thus begins the most popular judge show in recent history. Judge Judy can be summed up in one sentence: "What if the Mediator persona was a real person?" Well, she is.

Judge Judy, which reigned supreme in first-run syndication from 1996 to 2021 (and is still airing in reruns), focuses on the courtroom of Judge Judith Sheindlin, an experienced family-court judge who first came to national attention in 1993 when she was profiled on an episode of 60 Minutes and whose no-nonsense style impressed TV producers so much that they offered her her own show. On Judge Judy, Her Honor brings her extreme pithiness to everyday small-claims court cases which sometimes involve some of the worst human garbage this side of Jerry Springer. One can only watch and wonder, "where did they find these people?" The standard episode sees Judy evaluating the testimony of both litigants, interspersed with her own biting comments as needed, determining which has the better case and why, and then issuing a ruling. After the case, the litigants have a chance to speak to the camera and comment on how justice was, or was not, served.

Note that Ms. Sheindlin is not actually acting as a judge (though she was a real judge for years, and she knows her legalese) and the show is filmed on a set, not in a courtroom. The guy in front of her (Petri Hawkins-Byrd, or Byrd for short) is a former New York City Court Bailiff, not a police officer, and the "public gallery" is filled by paid extras. She is actually acting as an arbiter (a third party whose decision both parties in the dispute agree to abide by; in addition, the litigants must drop the case in their local civil court before Judge Judy will hear it). Both "litigants" will be paid; Judy is determining the balance of the two. As these are small-claims court cases, the most a litigant can be awarded is $5,000, and the burden of proof a litigant must meet is preponderance of evidence, not "beyond a reasonable doubt" as in a criminal court. She is also, as an arbiter and not a judge, not bound to adhere to the laws of whatever jurisdiction from which the litigants hail, and uses her own common sense to determine the validity of each claim; as she often points out, it's a court of equity with all litigants on the same footing regardless of the laws in their own jurisdictions.

Though it was not the originator of the judge show, as Raymond Babbit would tell you, it single-handedly revived the genre that had been dormant since the cancellation of the original run of The People's Court (which was subsequently Uncanceled) and spawned a whole bunch of new judge shows, including two created by Sheindlin herself called Hot Bench (syndication, 2014-present) and Tribunal Justice (Freevee, premiering in 2023), which both deviate from the traditional court-show formula by using three-judge panels instead of a single judge. Sheindlin herself is not one of the judges on Hot Bench or Tribunal Justice, though she appeared as a "guest judge" on one Hot Bench episode (as did her husband Jerry, who once presided over The People's Court) and her son, Adam Levy, is one of the Tribunal judges, along with former Hot Bench judges Tanya Acker and Patricia DiMango. Also, Hot Bench with Judge Judy Sheindlin had been the original working title of the show that eventually became Judge Judy.

The show, and Hot Bench, are distributed by CBS, but are not CBS network-exclusive shows and air on many non-affiliated stations. CBS did, however, air a special primetime version of Judge Judy in 2014 over the entire network.

After 25 seasons, Judge Judy aired its final first-run episode in 2021, with Sheindlin moving on to a new, similar show on Amazon's Freevee streaming service called Judy Justice. It's essentially the same show except with a new bailiff (Kevin Rasco, former head of security on Judge Judy; Byrd would return in 2023 as a bailiff on Tribunal Justice) and a law clerk (Judy's granddaughter, Sarah Rose Levy) and court reporter (Whitney Kumar) added, and the court's maximum award now doubled to $10,000. Judy Justice began its third season in January 2024, and reruns entered broadcast syndication in the fall of 2024, putting Sheindlin in competition with herself in the syndication marketplace, as Judge Judy reruns continue to get high ratings (Tribunal Justice will also enter syndication in 2026 to compete with Hot Bench). A third Freevee spinoff, Justice on Trial, which will feature reenactments of iconic American court cases, is currently in development for a 2024 premiere. After Freevee ceases operations, both Judy Justice and Tribunal Justice will migrate to Amazon Prime and continue to stream for free; meanwhile, the first two seasons of Judge Judy (from before CBS acquired the series) are streaming for free on the Pluto TV app.

Sheindlin is a four-time Daytime Emmy winner for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program, winning three times for Judge Judy and once for Judy Justice. She's also written several books, including Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever; Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining; and What Would Judy Say?: A Grown-Up Guide to Living Together with Benefits.

---

Contains examples of the following:

• Abusive Parents: A case in which the plaintiff sued her former roommate for past due rent took a darker turn when the defendant claimed to have seen the plaintiff smack her toddler daughter across the room while sleeping off a night of drinking, and then cover the girl's mouth to muffle her cries. Judge Judy believed the defendant's story and concluded that the plaintiff had evicted the defendant as retaliation for the defendant's reporting the abuse. Suspecting also that the plaintiff had a drinking problem, she advised the toddler's aunt to keep a close eye out for further signs of abuse.
• An Aesop: Judy Justice plays this straighter, with each case ending with Her Honor and her granddaughter Sarah discussing the legal issues in play and what viewers can take away from the case (for example: "Make sure you have all your evidence before coming to court," "Don't come to court with unclean hands," and so on). Although Judge Judy had no such "behind the scenes" segments, many of the cases had a similar educational component.
• Appeal to Flattery: Some litigants try to earn brownie points with the judge by doing this, only to get quickly shot down.

Defendant: By the way, Your Honor, you look beautiful today. Judge Judy: Don't go there, Mr. Missry, because that'll be the fastest way for you out the door, sir.

• As the Good Book Says: One defendant began her testimony by quoting Scripture. Judge Judy cut her off immediately.

Judge Judy: I don't care what the word of God says. This is a courtroom, not a church. Don't preach to me.

• Berserk Button: Yes, it's a TV show, but Judge Judy will not tolerate litigants or witnesses who don't treat the proceedings with proper decorum and act as if they were on Jerry Springer. Thus, her berserk buttons include litigants who engage in behavior including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Telling Blatant Lies. All it takes is one lie to torpedo your credibility and lose your case.
  • Answering questions with "Mmmhmmm" or some variant instead of "Yes" or "No."
  • Refusing to answer a question. As some guests have learned the hard way, this is a very good way to get a case instantly dismissed.
  • Using "filler words" such as "basically." Judge Judy isn't nearly as much of a Grammar Nazi as she once was, but filler words are one thing she's never warmed up to.
  • Failing to make eye contact with her while testifying. It may be taken as a sign of deception.
  • Interrupting her, as shown by her Catch Phrases below. Likewise, interrupting the opposing litigant's testimony.
  • Asking her questions. She'll remind them that they're there to answer her questions, not the other way around.
  • Being a smart aleck with Judge Judy, i.e. replying to a question with a joke or sarcasm. Guests who try this get reminded: "This is my playpen, not yours," or "There's only one attitude here, and that's mine," or something along those lines.
  • Being too familiar with Judge Judy by calling her "Judy." She will immediately correct litigants who try this and reminds them that this isn't a talk show and they're not friends; therefore they cannot be on a first name basis.
  • Cursing. It's a good way to get a case instantly dismissed. The exception is when you're quoting someone, which Judge Judy will allow because she wants litigants to tell her every detail of a case.
  • Coming to court late.
  • Coming to court drunk or high. Judge Judy can't, and won't, ask a litigant questions if she suspects the litigant is in an altered state of mind. If she has to wait for a litigant to sober up in order to hear a case, she will not be happy.
  • Refusing to accept Judge Judy's ruling after she's made it. Judge Judy will remind the litigant that they agreed to accept her ruling in exchange for the show paying for their airplane ticket, lodging, etc., and they'd better abide by the terms of her decision if they want to get home on the show's dollar.
    • For some litigants themselves, being told they have no case is a Berserk Button, and they'll start arguing with or yelling back at the judge. Judy won't tolerate this and will quickly end the proceedings and/or have Byrd remove the litigant(s) from the courtroom. Unless the litigant(s) storm out themselves, which some have done.
  • Coming to court in inappropriate (i.e. shorts), torn, or overly revealing clothing. She's been known to eject litigants or witnesses who dress inappropriately from court until they can find something to wear.
  • Coming to court without the necessary evidence or otherwise unprepared. Her response to this will often be: "Well, where did you think you were coming today? The beach?"
  • Trying to introduce hearsay as evidence. Even signed letters or affidavits will not be accepted unless the person in question is dead, in the military, or in the hospital; having to work is not an excuse. One exception is police reports, as those are considered business records (and she'll insist on reading them herself as opposed to having a litigant summarize them for her). Only on rare occasions will she take testimony over the telephone, and those occasions are never when litigants ask her to.
  • Frivolous Lawsuits. She'll remind litigants that she didn't spend years in law school to litigate nonsense.

Judge Judy: Listen! Do you have any idea of the cost of my legal education? Do you honestly think that I'm going to sit here and figure out who used the phone during peak time? This is not a commercial!

• • Obfuscating Stupidity, as exemplified by these lines:
    • "Either you're playing dumb or it's not an act."
    • "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
    • "Don't give me the dumb routine. If you're dumb, I'll know you're dumb. If it's a dumb routine, I know it's a dumb routine."
• Beware of Vicious Dog: Judge Judy has entertained scores of dog bite cases over the years, and a number of them have involved pit bulls. Her Honor rarely misses an opportunity to chastise pit bull owners - especially ones with children - for keeping a pet in their homes with the ability to do great physical harm, and she'll often point out that this is also the reason many insurance providers won't insure pit bull owners. She also keeps at her bench a copy of a letter sent to her by a viewer, written by a heartbroken grandfather whose grandson was nearly mauled to death by a pit bull, which she'll read aloud if she feels it's necessary.
  • One pit bull owner insisted his dog didn't possess the capacity for violence, even comparing the animal to Scooby-Doo. Judge Judy called him an idiot.
  • In one Judy Justice case, the judge had Sarah look up the number of fatal pit bull bite cases verses the number of fatal chihuahua bite incidents over a five-year period in the litigants' jurisdiction. The result: pit bulls 185, chihuahuas 2.
• Blatant Lies: Lots of people try to pull this, but as a "truth machine," Judy is having none of it.
• Break the Haughty: A common occurrence. A certain case against a 13-year-old school bully in particular (said bully was reduced to tears) showed that she has no tolerance for children with attitude.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Judge Judy will reduce the amount of any judgment awarded to the plaintiff if she determines the defendant's counterclaim to have merit. Sometimes this results in the plaintiff's complaint being wiped out (if the complaint isn't dismissed) and a net judgment in favor of the counterclaim.
• Brooklyn Rage: Judge Judy, a Brooklyn native, may as well be the poster girl for this trope.
• But We Used a Condom: Said to a young woman who claimed she got pregnant (unplanned) despite using birth control:

Judge Judy: Well, I suggest you sue the birth control company, because it failed.

• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': If Judge Judy senses that a litigant got away with some wrongdoing, she'll announce that she's sending a tape of the case to law enforcement in the litigant's jurisdiction.
  • If she suspects a litigant committed tax evasion or some other financial transgression, she'll announce that she's sending the tape to the IRS.
  • One case involved a defendant who, when stopped for speeding on two separate occasions (including once when she was drunk), fraudulently gave police her cousin's name and then stuck her cousin with the traffic tickets. Although Judge Judy admonished the plaintiff for her part in the scam, she was outraged that the defendant had faced no consequences and ordered the defendant to pay the tickets plus submit her driver's license to the court within ten days, or else she'd have the police confiscate it.
  • In one case involving a 20 year old who got caught the first time he used a fake ID, Judge Judy lampshades this by calling him "the unluckiest person on Earth."
• Cast the Expert: Which she is, as she reminds those who argue with her opinions.

Judge Judy: Go to law school, pass the bar exam and become a judge, and then you can argue with me.

• Catch Phrase: Quite a few:
  • "Just a second!"
  • "I'M SPEAKING!"
    • "Do you see my mouth moving? When my mouth moves, yours stops."
    • "Are you trying to talk over me? You're not gonna talk over me. You know why? They can turn off your mike and leave mine on."
  • "This is my playpen!"
  • "You're an idiot!"
  • "Answer my question!"
  • "Um is not an answer!"
  • "(You're so full of) Baloney!"
  • "You ate the steak!" - used with litigants who utilize a service without paying for it (for example, a litigant living in an apartment and then refusing to pay the rent). The analogy is: if you order steak at a restaurant and finish the entire steak despite not liking it (as opposed to sending it back), you can't then refuse to pay for it because you didn't like it.
  • "OUTRAGEOUS! YOU ARE AN OUTRAGEOUS PERSON!"
  • "That's either a YES or a NO." [when a litigant attempts to evade a direct question]
  • "On your BEST day you're not as smart as I am on my WORST day."
  • "So what do you want from me?" [informing a litigant that she doesn't believe they have a case, after laying out the facts]
  • "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
  • "You're a MORON!"
  • "I am an equal opportunity abuser." [meaning: neither side is exempt from her wrath if she determines both parties did something wrong]
  • to litigants not making eye contact with her, said while pointing to her face: "Don't look over there. Look over here."
  • "Put on your listening ears!" Often used in conjunction with "God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason!"
  • "Don't [or "You can't"] tell me what he [she, they, etc.] said. That's hearsay."
  • "Don't [or "You can't"] tell me what he [she, they, etc.] thought. That calls for the operation of someone's mind."
  • "Then it doesn't exist." [If a litigant claims to have a piece of evidence to support their case but doesn't bring it to court. Judge Judy means that she can't consider it as evidence if she can't see it, not that said evidence literally "doesn't exist."]
  • "Beauty fades, dumb is forever."
  • "Uncross your arms!"
  • "They don't keep me here 'cause I'm gorgeous. They keep me here because I'm smart."
  • "The questions get harder!" [when litigants have trouble answering basic questions, such as the date of the events in question]
  • to litigants telling Blatant Lies: "Look at this face. Is that what you want this face to believe?"
  • "You know when teenagers are lying? When their mouths are moving."
  • "Don't ask me questions. I don't answer your questions. You answer my questions."
  • "What?! Where did you think you were going?! A tea party?!" or "...to the beach?!" or "...a tea dance?!" etc. (If one of the litigants does not bring certain necessary documents)
  • "I know EXACTLY who you are!"
  • "Have you ever been psychiatrically hospitalized? Are you on any psychotropic drugs?" (The point of asking this: to determine whether a litigant was in their right mind when the events in question in the case happened, especially if the litigant's version of events is disputed by their opponent)
  • "You have to love your children more than you hate each other." (to divorced or separated litigants with kids)
  • "Don't say 'basically'. I don't want to hear 'basically.' 'Basically' is a filler word, like 'like'."
  • "I've been in this business for 40 (50, etc.) years."
  • "There's something wrong with you."
  • "I don't give a rat's behind about that!"
  • "I eat morons like you for breakfast - and still have room left over for oatmeal."
  • "You're a hustler!"
  • "I don't care what you feel. Your feelings are irrelevant to me. If you want to talk about your feelings, go on Dr. Phil."
  • when a litigant who seems to be winning the case interrupts unnecessarily: "Do I LOOK like I need your help?" or "Does it LOOK like you're losing?"
  • to smart-alecky litigants: "This is not an audition. I already have the job."
  • "You got into a kerfuffle."
  • "Don't go off into tributaries." [said to litigants who begin talking off-topic]
  • "I'm like a truth machine. Someone starts to lie and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."
  • pointing at her forehead: "'Stupid' isn't written here."
  • "You say no, I say yes. I win. I'm the judge."
  • "There's only one attitude here, and that's mine."
  • "If you tell the truth, you don't have to have a good memory."
  • informing a litigant they have no case: "I can't help you."
  • "That's a bubbe meise." (Yiddish for "grandma story"; essentially, it means, it's a lie)
  • "That's all." or "We're done." (after delivering her judgment)
  • "Parties are excused, you may step out." (said by Byrd after Judge Judy rules)
• Cool Old Lady: Both played straight in that Judge Judy is a popular (and polarizing) figure, and averted in that she prides herself on being hilariously out of date when it comes to popular culture. More often than not she has to get Byrd (or on Judy Justice, Sarah) to explain to her popular slang, Internet features, etc. That makes it all the funnier when she actually uses a slang term correctly, because she'll often turn to Byrd (or Sarah) and ask, "Did I get that right?"
• Courtroom Antics: The Judge herself will often disrupt the proceedings to offer candid and irrelevant opinions about her clients or society in general. She's not above asking clients non-rhetorical questions and then shouting them down when they try to answer. It would never fly in a real court, but this isn't a real court.
• Conviction by Counterfactual Clue: Judy has committed this fallacy several times.
• Crazy Cat Lady: The plaintiff in one case was an elderly lady who regularly fed feral cats, which led to fisticuffs with a neighbor, with water and even cat feces being flung back and forth. Judge Judy couldn't get the plaintiff to understand that her feeding feral cats was creating a problem in the neighborhood, and ultimately dismissed both the complaint and countersuit.
  • An earlier case involved a Crazy Bird Lady who owned 100 birds and temporarily lost custody of her children until she got rid of the birds. Even more unbelievable, the woman saw nothing wrong with turning her home into an aviary and blamed the plaintiff for getting her kids taken away, her rationale being that if she had not been watching the plaintiff's three birds as a favor (the plaintiff's three birds were also removed, hence the plaintiff's lawsuit), authorities wouldn't have removed the children (as if 97 birds instead of 100 would have made a difference). Not surprisingly, that was dismissed.

Judge Judy: 100 birds are filthy little animals because all they do is make droppings and eat. Occasionally maybe one or two of them will say a word to you, but other than that, that's what birds do. They don't fetch; they don't bring you whiskey when you're freezing; they don't get a newspaper - that's what birds do. They eat and eliminate. Defendant: And they talk! Judge Judy: SO DO YOUR CHILDREN! ... Your counterclaim is dismissed. You should bless her, and not sue her!

• Deadpan Snarker: She's sometimes too animated to truly qualify as deadpan, but Judge Judy definitely has her Deadpan Snarker moments. Some litigants can give as well as they take, but Judge Judy always gets the last word, reminding them, "There's only one attitude here, and that's mine," or "This is not an audition, and I have the job."
• Disproportionate Retribution: Forms the basis of many cases.
  • One case involved a defendant who kicked and damaged the plaintiff's car just because he didn't like the type of music she was playing.
  • A less lighthearted example is a young woman who called Child Protective Services on her brother and his wife alleging their baby was born drug-addicted. Judge Judy was going to dismiss the plaintiffs' case as they had no evidence they were clean when the baby was born, but when the defendant admitted she'd had a major argument with her brother just before she made the call, the judge was convinced the call was made maliciously and ended up ruling in the plaintiffs' favor.
    • Judge Judy has outright said she believes people who use Child Services for this purpose should be jailed, since this takes time and resources away from legitimate cases of abused or neglected children.
• Domestic Abuse: This has factored in a few cases.
  • A plaintiff in one case sued his ex-girlfriend for the return of personal property. The defendant countersued the plaintiff for beating her so severely she had to be hospitalized. She had told hospital staffers she was hit by a baseball only to avoid losing custody of her children. The plaintiff admitted to beating up his ex and claimed to be remorseful, but the smirk on his face through the whole case suggested otherwise and led Judge Judy to call him out for having "inappropriate affect." After learning that the plaintiff's mother was herself a victim of domestic abuse (and yet appeared in court to make excuses for her son, which did not sit well with the judge), Judge Judy pointed out that the plaintiff grew up to become an abuser because he grew up in a home where domestic abuse was normalized. The case ended with the plaintiff's complaint dismissed and the defendant winning $5,000 on her counterclaim.
  • A defendant in another case was being sued for filing a false police report which resulted in the plaintiff, a neighbor, being taken to jail. The defendant had called the police after witnessing a scuffle between the plaintiff and the plaintiff's then-boyfriend, now-husband, which resulted in the plaintiff being kicked in the rear end. Turned out the false police report was made not by the defendant, but by the plaintiff's boyfriend, who in a separate call to police falsely claimed the plaintiff had assaulted him. Judge Judy couldn't believe the plaintiff had married this man after he'd not only abused her but filed a false police report on her, and dismissed the case.
• Drunk Driver: Judge Judy will severely admonish litigants who drive intoxicated or stoned. One case on Judy Justice even involved video evidence of one of the litigants smoking a blunt while behind the wheel.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Litigants who laugh at something they're not supposed to laugh at will get a severe admonishment from Judge Judy.

Judge Judy: [to a woman who had filed false assault charges against her ex in order to get sole custody of their child, and had been giggling through the entire case] Listen, I don't know why you think this is funny. I don't find it funny at all. As a matter of fact, I find it very sad. Because if what you're telling me is that since this happened he's been on a supervised visitation schedule, you, madam, are OUTRAGEOUS!

• Dumb Blonde: This exchange -

Judge Judy: It's not rocket science. Tell me what rocket science is. Ashley Hunter: Rocket science is where the scientists find out things about space. [uncomfortable beat] I think.

• Early Installment Weirdness: Early seasons feature different theme music (which changed several times over the years, the longest-lasting variant - a jazzed-up version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - introduced in 2005), a different announcer, and a different set with lighter wood paneling and without the American flags behind the judge. Also, there was the occasional episode dedicated to a panel discussion/debate, on topics such as the legalization of drugs, instead of a small-claims case, with opposing sides taking the "plaintiff" and "defendant" benches and Judge Judy jumping in to offer her thoughts on the topic whenever she felt like it. On occasion, she even used a gavel, which she would quickly drop in favor of rapping her hand on her podium to get litigants' attention. A few cases even featured celebrity guests (as plaintiffs, defendants or witnesses), including actress Bea Arthur and John Lydon of Sex Pistols. And in a nod to its predecessor The People's Court, early episodes featured that show's Doug Llewellyn as a supervising producer.
  • The Early Installment Weirdness (from the era before CBS acquired producer Big Ticket Television) is available for all to see for free on the PlutoTV streaming platform.
• Exact Words: The technique used by some litigants to get around responsibility for this or that action.
  • One lovable idiot accused of jumping on the plaintiff's car and denting the trunk denied responsibility since she'd offered him a ride and told him to "hop on the car."
• Get Out!: Litigants and witnesses who run afoul of one of Her Honor's many Berserk Buttons will often be ordered out of the courtroom, and whatever case they have will usually be dismissed.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: In Judge Judy's case, Yiddish. Some litigants who are not fluent in English also require interpreters (most often Spanish or Chinese).
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Litigants who act stupid, litigants who act 'cool,' litigants who are lying on the stand and think they can get away with it...
• Hairstyle Inertia: With a few minor tweaks, Judge Judy had more or less the same hairdo - a sort of bouffantish bob - for the first 23 years of the show's run. In 2019, she dropped the bouffant and began wearing her hair brushed back, adding a small fake ponytail or hair clip in the back.
• Hanging Judge
• Hey, It's That Voice!: 1970s Game Show fans may recognize announcer Jerry Bishop from The Cross Wits and the Disney Channel in the 80's.
• Homeschooled Kids: Judge Judy has a problem with this if the kids are being taught by parents or other "educators" without proper educational degrees or credentials. In one case, she was infuriated when she learned that a boy's father and paternal grandmother, neither of whom had even graduated from high school, had pulled the boy out of public school and chosen to teach him at home (allegedly because of the boy's allergies). The judge pointed out that this constituted neglect and advised the child's maternal grandmother to file a report with child services after returning home.
• Hypocrite: When Joseph Wapner criticised Sheindlin's behavior she responded with:

I refuse to engage in similar mud slinging. I don't know where or by whom Judge Wapner was raised. But my parents taught me when you don't have something nice to say about someone, say nothing. Clearly, Judge Wapner was absent on the day that lesson was taught.

• • Also, Judy is vocal on stating that the show is all about being a living example of her belief that those who do wrong should suffer consequences. But those in the wrong suffer no consequences on this show. In fact, they gain from their bad behaviour. All participants get an all expenses paid trip to New York. All participants get a minimum attendance fee of $1,000. And any monetary judgements made against a participant are paid by the show. The only cost they receive is their dignity; millions of television viewers worldwide will get to see how inhuman they really are.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: Some of the most memorable moments from Judge Judy's courtroom are the result of this.

Defendant: [accused of damaging the plaintiff's car with a rock, and claiming that the car in question no longer ran] No, I'm just saying, like, that's why he doesn't drive his car. It's not 'cause of what I di- I mean, what he thinks... [Uproarious laughter from audience] Judge Judy: What a dummy. Oh my God! So glad we did this case first today. [more audience laughter] Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $2500. You're getting the $2500 partially to fix the stuff on your car, and partially because this was the most fun I've had in a long time. [more audience laughter]

• Implausible Deniability: Most of the defendants pull this. Judge Judy is never fooled.
• Improvised Weapon: Some cases involve assaults with everyday items such as bricks, cooking pots, and water bottles. In one Judy Justice case, the plaintiff split the defendant's lip with a metal water bottle during a road rage incident, and the defendant, who had an underlying cardiac condition, subsequently suffered a heart attack; thus, the plaintiff's case was dismissed and the defendant won the court maximum of $10,000 (note that the maximum amount on Judy Justice is double the $5,000 maximum of Judge Judy).
• Induced Hypochondria: An Ungrateful Bastard defendant in one case, rather than repay his ex-girlfriend for a loan he owed her, told the plaintiff he had contracted an STD and that she had given it to him. After the plaintiff got a clean bill of health, she sued her ex for emotional distress and for her medical bills. Judge Judy called the defendant a fool and ruled in the plaintiff's favor, expressing regret that the plaintiff hadn't sued for the $5,000 maximum because she would have been entitled to it.
• Instrumental Theme Tune: The theme music to Judge Judy (which changed several times over the show's run but from 2005 onward was a jazzed-up take on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony) was such, narration notwithstanding. Judy Justice plays this straight, as its theme music has no accompanying narration.
• It Runs in the Family: Judge Judy's son Adam Levy, a former New York District Attorney and a criminal defense attorney, is one of the judges on spinoff Tribunal Justice, and evidently learned everything he knows about being tough from his mother. In fact, he sometimes makes even his mom look like a pussycat. His daughter, Sarah Rose, is also a lawyer and acts as legal assistant to her grandmother on her current show, Judy Justice.
• It's All About Me: Judge Judy eats, lives and breathes this trope. After all, the program has her name on it, as she'll point out to anyone who dares challenge her.

Judge Judy: [to one argumentative litigant] This is not a democracy! This is a monarchy!

• Jerkass: Her Honor herself, who always speaks her mind, regardless of people's feelings. But then again, truth hurts sometimes.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sometimes shows a softer side.
• Kubrick Stare/Death Glare: Judy, mainly directed at litigants who are demonstrating unusual dishonesty, stupidity, or are otherwise trying her patience.
• Living Lie Detector: Judge Judy herself (or in her own words, "Truth Machine").
  • She thinks she is, at least. Very rarely does she acknowledge the possibility that she MIGHT be wrong.

I could be wrong. I was wrong once in 1942.

• • • One case where she was proven wrong was where she accused a woman of lying when the woman claimed that she walked over a large distance to and from work every day. When her opponent actually spoke up in her defense when the judge didn't believe her, confirming that yes, she in fact did walk that distance every day, Judy admitted her mistake and apologized.
      The above is a very rare occasion though. Generally speaking, Judy will get more and more irritated if she asks questions she thinks will embarrass defendants and make them look like feckless bums and then gets answers that don't suit her and prove otherwise. She's then most likely to simply change the subject.
• Lured Into a Trap: One memorable case involved a teenage girl who was savagely assaulted by two bullies and sued her former best friend, whom she accused of setting her up. The defendant denied this, but the circumstantial evidence suggested that was exactly what happened (as did the fact that the defendant had pleaded guilty in criminal court to setting up the assault), and Judge Judy ruled in the plaintiff's favor after steamrolling over the defendant and the defendant's mother (who still believed her daughter's lies).
• Malicious Slander: Usually downplayed. Judge Judy won't consider it unless she determines that the accused party made the slanderous statements out of malice, i.e. while knowing them to be false or not knowing them to be true. This is tough to prove without concrete evidence of malicious intent (as opposed to just supposition), and so many plaintiffs who sue for this get their cases dismissed (for example, writing a bad review for a business is not considered slander in and of itself).
• Mean Character, Nice Actor: When she's not in the courtroom she's a sweet grandmother. One of her grandchildren, Sarah Rose Levy, now works with her on her new series, Judy Justice. She also tends to be quite nice while giving interviews.
  • Played straight on the covers of Her Honor's advice books for kids, which feature a smiling Judge Judy (and one of her Shih Tzus) surrounded by adoring caricature children.
• Never My Fault: Some litigants will still refuse to accept responsibility for their actions despite Judge Judy's best efforts to educate them. An extreme example was a plaintiff on Judy Justice who admitted to being an alcoholic but blamed the defendant for it. In fact, this was the whole crux of his case, as he claimed the defendant's difficult behavior drove him to drink, which led to him urinating on his own sofa during a blackout; thus, he sued the defendant for the soiled sofa. Not surprisingly, Her Honor didn't buy it.
• Never Suicide: One case involved a young man who sued his aunt for possession of his late mother's car. The mother had allegedly hanged herself, but after the case was over (with Judge Judy dismissing the lawsuit), the defendant suggested that she believed her sister had been murdered, because some of the evidence wasn't consistent with suicide, and that she would be pursuing a further investigation of her sister's death.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Judge Judy won't stand for litigants who try "playing dumb" and, if it's particularly egregious, will conclude that said person is a liar.
• Off on a Technicality: One case involved a woman suing for medical bills for a tattoo on her ankle that had gone wrong and caused an infection. Judge Judy was about to rule in her favor when the defendant, who ran the tattoo parlor, produced a release the plaintiff had signed in which she agreed not to hold the defendant responsible for any complications resulting from the tattoo. After the plaintiff admitted she had signed the form, Judge Judy dismissed her case.
• Opening Narration / Emphasize Everything: "(You are about to enter the courtroom of Judge Judith Sheindlin! (The people are real. The cases are real. The rulings are final! (This is her courtroom!))) This is Judge Judy!"
• Point and Laugh Show: Anyone who thinks they can pull the wool over Judge Judy's eyes will be quickly disabused of that notion, and Judge Judy will make them look like fools on national TV. "And they rerun this show in perpetuity, for the entire universe."

Judge Judy: I'd like ten million people to know that you've done something stupid. It's my joy in life.

• Quit Your Whining: Judge Judy has very limited patience for whiners or litigants who go into histrionics when a case doesn't go their way and will quickly shut them down by ending the case or having them removed from court.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: What Judy's one of the best at, whether they actually suck or not. But most of them definitely do.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Her Honor and the bailiff. Judy gets furious at the drop of a hat; Byrd has not once expressed anything other than absolute stoicism (with a few exceptions). It's like the two leads from Samurai Champloo were transplanted into the body of a judge and bailiff.
• Screw Politeness, I'm A Senior: Judge Judy, who was in her mid-50s when Judge Judy began and turned 80 in 2022, always says what's on her mind, regardless of the situation.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Some litigants storm out of court if they're unhappy with the way a case is going. It almost always results in their case being instantly dismissed. Judge Judy herself will also do this if she senses that she's not getting through to a litigant despite her best efforts to explain her judgment.
• Self-Deprecation: Judge Judy often uses this (in a humorous way) in reference to her own looks, or her incompetence in math.

Judge Judy: [in a case involving a woman who was suing her former coworker for posting pictures of her in a swimsuit on their employer's website] So you admit that you posed for these photos, and that's fine; you're entitled to do that if you like. Me, I don't take pictures of myself in a swimsuit because I think that people are entitled to keep their last meal. In fact, I don't even get into a swimsuit anymore.

• Shown Their Work: Judge Judy is a legitimate legal authority. Even if the litigants are clearly getting on her last nerve, she will try to explain which legal areas are in play and why the plaintiff/defendant does or does not have a case. While she uses common sense as the barometer of determining the outcome of each case, she will also back up her opinions with the law.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: A lot of defendants try to pull this, but Judy undoubtedly sees through it.
• Tagline: "Real cases. Real people. Judge Judy."
  • Also (from 1996 to 2015): "The cases are real. The people are real. The rulings are final."
• Teens Are Monsters: Judge Judy is a staunch believer in this trope. (To be fair, the teens that typically appear on the show don't do much to prove her wrong.)

I've raised several teenagers, so I know that the first thing that teenagers do when they open their mouths is lie.

• • Averted when she discovers that teens are genuine victims. In one case she tells the teenage son of a defendant in a claim he had nothing to do with in a heartfelt voice to get away from his father and sister any way he can, believing he was too good a person to be corrupted with their influence. In another, she initially had some very harsh words for a teenage boy who was accused of stealing a scooter and selling it for parts, but eased up a bit when he determined his mother likely had a drinking problem (she even brought him along with her to bars) and told him he had the choice to try to overcome the bad environment he was being raised in.
• Too Dumb to Live: It's a point-and-laugh show, so there are a lot of these, but extra points go to litigants who attempt to interrupt or speak up while Judy is tearing into their opponents. Especially if they proffer information that torpedoes their own case (which has happened).
• Toxic Friend Influence: Judge Judy's "Blueberry Rule" is an example of this. The analogy is: if you buy a carton of blueberries from the grocery store and notice that one of the blueberries is rotten and moldy, unless you remove the moldy blueberry, in a few days, all the blueberries will be moldy. She's used this analogy to explain why she feels children who disrupt classes with bad behavior should be transferred to special classes.
• Vocal Evolution: The series' longtime announcer, Jerry Bishop, sounded noticeably older in his last few seasons, possibly due to illness. Bishop passed away in 2020 and was replaced by Steve Kamer for the final part of the last season of Judge Judy (Al Murdoch, who bears somewhat of a vocal resemblance to Bishop, is the announcer for Judy Justice). Judge Judy herself also sounded a lot younger in the earliest seasons of the series.
• Well, This Is Not That Trope:

Judge Judy: [to a smart-alecky plaintiff] Don't be a wise guy with me, sir. There's only one wise person here. And that's Byrd. [audience laughs]

• Wicked Stepmother: A very early case, which went viral years later, involved a woman who sued her ex-husband's current wife for creating and posting slanderous flyers accusing the plaintiff of child abuse with zero evidence of this. Judy, determining this to be a likely case of the defendant using Malicious Slander to get custody of the plaintiff's kids, awarded the plaintiff $5,000 and unleashed on the defendant, calling her a mean, vindictive woman and adding that if she were the judge hearing the custody case, she would grant the plaintiff's ex supervised visitation only since he lived with such a "witch."
• You Are the New Trend: While it wasn't the first court show, the success of Judge Judy opened up the floodgates for a revival of the genre, including a revival of The People's Court which briefly featured Judy's husband, Jerry, as judge.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Invoked by Judge Judy when she reminds the litigants to tell her the truth, or else she'll make them look foolish on international TV.

Judge Judy: [to a young football player being sued for standing up his prom date] If you lie to me, I'll wipe up the floor with you worse than anyone else who's ever tackled you.

• You're Insane!: Often invoked by Judge Judy when a litigant says something particularly ridiculous - for example, a father who thought he could sue for babysitting fees for watching his own children while their mother worked.
• Your Mom: Inverted by one lovable piece of work who claimed to have ten children by "about four" women and "your daughter." Judy wasn't amused.

Defendant: It was a joke, ma'am. Judge Judy: Let me explain something to you, fresh mouth. I'm the only one who makes jokes.