Let’s get to the bottom of whether Judge Judy is an actual judge with legal authority

Judge Judy is one of those shows that even though I’ve never actually watched it, I feel strangely comforted by it.

But, I’ve always wondered whether Judge Judy aka Judy Sheindlin actually has any legal power or if the whole thing is just for show.

So, let’s have a look into whether she’s an actual judge or not.

Judy is a former New York judge who used to work as a family court judge, telling People: “Being a judge in a courtroom in the family court it’s probably the most worthwhile work that you do. Television judging is a lot more fun, a lot less work, and you take a lot fewer Tylenol than you do in family court.”

Judy did actually gradate with a juris doctorate from New York Law School in 1965, meaning she is legally trained.

The courtroom she presides over in Judge Judy isn’t a real courtroom as she serves an an arbitrator and has technically now retired.

At the start of her law career, Judy became more well known and promoted, before she eventually caught the attention of CBS executives who then launched Judge Judy, meaning she had to retire from family court.

Whilst she doesn’t serve as a judge during the show, she does rule on the actual cases, however is not bound by any rules of conduct, civil procedure or evidence, and adjudicates cases as she sees fit.

The executive producer of the show revealed how the cases get selected, explaining: “We have approximately 60 to 65 researchers across the country that go into courts and because of the Freedom of Information Act, we can Xerox those cases and they’re sent back to the producers.

He added that they try to find cases which have emotional ties to try and create a ” bit of a mini soap opera.”

Judy’s final decisions on the cases are legally binding however, and the disputing parties have to agree to accept her ruling and not try and pursue a verdict elsewhere.

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