TV Justice

Since moving to FTW, I've realized that there are A LOT of court shows on TV.  At first I thought it was a FTW thing.  Now I think they've always been there, but I've never noticed since I was always at work.  And in case you're wondering how many, a quick glance at the TV Guide for today shows the following schedule: Judge Alex (three times), Divorce Court (three times), Judge Jeanine Pirro (twice), Judge Mathis (twice), People's Court, Street Court (twice), Judge Hatchett (twice), Judge Joe Brown (twice), Judge Judy (twice).  And all of these shows are scheduled before 5:00 pm.  On a typical weekday there would be more, but there's a baseball game scheduled for the middle of the afternoon, so that knocks out three hours.  I know there's normally at least one more episode of People's Court.

I watch a couple of these shows.  Some are good, some are not.  People's Court is pretty good; Judge Mathis is one step above Jerry Springer.  I can't believe some of the stuff people try to get away with!  And what's the deal with parents suing their kids?  I know I would never sue my parents, but watching these shows makes me think they would have no problem suing me!  (No, they wouldn't.)  I especially like watching people try to justify their actions when they know they're wrong.  For example, a lady today admitted she was stealing money from her mom, but said it wasn't really stealing, it was "borrowing."  Of course, she borrowed the money by withdrawing it directly from her mother's account without her permission or knowledge and had no intention of returning it.  Not only was she dumb enough to do this, she was dumb enough to admit it!  News flash -- stealing is stealing regardless of what you call it.

Now I know I said in another post that I don't watch reality TV, but that's what's great about being a law student -- you can watch something like this and call it "research," "educational material," or "training."