The judge said she wasn’t much of a writer, but agreed to try if she could write it with me. Several days later, Judy got a call from literary agent Jane Dystel, who saw the “60 Minutes” segment and told her she could write a compelling book. “That night, we went to a diner with my friend Elaine and her husband, Barry, to celebrate,” she recalls. She watched nervously in her bedroom with her husband, Jerry Sheindlin, a New York Supreme Court judge, and was relieved that correspondent Morley Safer had treated her fairly. Could I put her in touch with the judge? Judy (by now we were on a first-name basis) agreed to do the story, which aired in October 1993. She’d read the profile and told me that Sheindlin was a natural candidate for a segment. Several hours later, I got another call - from a “60 Minutes” associate producer. Sometimes I felt in Family Court that, although I was respected, my views were as welcome as a skunk at a lawn party. You’re talking about someone who was, other than in my own little world, anonymous. “In those days, this kind of expense ate into the budget,” she jokes during a recent interview from her home in Naples, Fla. I learned later that she’d found a Manhattan newsstand that sold the Sunday Los Angeles Times and snapped up all the copies. She loved the piece, saying it was honest and fair. The profile ran on Valentine’s Day 1993, and I got an early morning call from the judge. There were no relaxing moments, not even during lunches we shared in her chambers. She smoked and worked out like a fiend to ward off the stress. She popped eight Tylenols each morning to prepare for an onslaught of juveniles who had been charged with violent crimes, custody disputes and child abuse cases. I watched Sheindlin in action for three weeks, handling 50 to 60 cases a day. When I asked if there were any rules to follow, I got my first dose of what later would become familiar to millions: “No chewing gum,” she snapped. It helped that she was the only Family Court judge who allowed the press into her courtroom. Intrigued, I called Sheindlin to ask if I might write a profile about her. “Shirley MacLaine will play her in a movie someday,” Heidi said. Fed up with lazy colleagues and political correctness, the judge called the bureaucracy “a disaster” that didn’t protect the public against violent young criminals. She’d written a series about the state’s deteriorating juvenile justice system that summer, and she marveled at Sheindlin, a fiery, 5-foot 2-inch force of nature in Manhattan’s Family Court. There would be four profiles, and the idea for the first one came from my wife, Heidi, a reporter for the New York Daily News. I’d begun a series about hardworking Americans who shook the bureaucratic cage with little or no success, but kept tilting at windmills. In fall 1992, I was a national features writer for The Times, based in New York City. “I feel so blessed that you’ve given me the benefit of your talents over all these years - and changed the dynamic of me, my family and friends forever.” “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Sheindlin told them via video conference, set up as part of the show’s COVID-19 safety protocols. As staff members said their heartfelt goodbyes, the judge herself was uncharacteristically soft-spoken. All showered praise on a woman who worked for more than two decades as a family court judge and prosecutor, reinvented herself at age 52 and went on to a brilliant second act. 10.Īs family members joined with her to celebrate, producers had a surprise: They played a video tribute with cameos by Jimmy Kimmel, Whoopi Goldberg, Ryan Seacrest, Kelly Ripa, Joy Behar, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Meghan McCain and Wendy Williams. “Judge Judy’s” final season on CBS ends Sept. The contractor’s case, running Tuesday, marks the last of more than 12,500 taped by Sheindlin during 25 years in the spotlight. It’s a moment that would be familiar to anyone who’s watched the Emmy-winning phenomenon - which is to say, just about anyone - but as the courtroom cleared and the set went dark, history was made. “Judgment for the plaintiff, and that’s all. “Pay your bills,” she told the stunned homeowner. Judge Judith Sheindlin, who instantly smelled a rat, probed the defendant’s rambling excuses and delivered a swift verdict. For a courtroom TV show that has dominated daytime since 1998, the case decided April 15 on “Judge Judy” was hardly memorable: A building contractor who repaired a ceiling was suing the homeowner for an unpaid $500 bill.
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