Valuable lessons from Judge Judy

When I was writing about television I forgot to mention another show my family often watches together. We often tune in to Judge Judy.

At first the show turned me off. Not only could the judge herself be really rude, but so many of the people involved in the suits were really vile. I did eventually notice that sometimes she was very patient, and that there was a pattern to her harshness.

I really started to feel differently when I heard something on the radio. I don't remember who was talking, but it related to psychology. The guest was talking about how people are biased in their own favor. Perhaps you have borrowed money and not paid it back, but in your mind you may feel like you paid more than you did, or you gave the equivalent value in some other way, or their was some reason why your failure to repay was justified. I realized that I was seeing that every time I watched.

Maybe at that point I started viewing watching the show as a course in sociology, but I now see it as even more valuable for instruction in law and civics. Many things come up that seem like they should be obvious, but apparently they aren't.

One is the importance of documentation. If you are going to court, and it will be important to show that you received or paid a sum, get proof of that. Canceled checks can be obtained, or bank statements. That is one reason why having a bank account is valuable, though we are going to get back to that in a different post.

If you do not have the option of using checks or electronic transactions that leave a record, get a receipt acknowledging payment. It doesn't have to be paper; text and e-mail messages have been used as proof.

There are other kinds of documentation, like photo records. These can be especially helpful with property rentals. If there are damages, there should be pictures of before and after, and they should be dated. Maybe nothing will go wrong, but if something comes up, you can't go back in time and take the before pictures. Knowing what precautions to take may just make you more aware of things in general, which has many benefits.

If someone is borrowing money from you, and agreeing to pay it back, get it in writing before you give the money. Sometimes a verbal agreement can be demonstrated after the fact, and that's helpful, but it is much better to get it spelled out before. Remember, a lot of people who agreed to pay it back at the beginning later feel that repayment is not necessary. If that can happen, someone doesn't want to sign at the time of the loan is sending up a red flag.

If someone agreed to pay you back, and then the payments never start, don't keep waiting to bring action. That waiting can be taken as a sign that you never expected repayment previously, and that maybe now it is just retaliation. (A lot of these cases involve people who were once a couple but no longer are.) Justice delayed is justice denied.

That doesn't mean that payback on a loan needs to start immediately. There may be reasons why you agree that no payments will happen for six months, or until a new job is started, or some event that relates to the ability of the debtor to repay the loan. Once you are thinking in those terms, it is easy for that to be spelled out in a written agreement, and then both sides get a copy, and it takes away ambiguity. It doesn't eliminate all potential difficulties, but it eliminates some.

Cases can also be used to demonstrate hearsay laws - when hearsay might be acceptable, and how to relate an incident without relying on hearsay, and when you really need a witness to be present.

The show could certainly be valuable for demonstrating proper courtroom decorum, which a lot of people seem to have no idea on anymore.

Yes, the show is for entertainment, but it can have educational value, and being entertaining is a nice trait when trying to educate. I think there is some potential there.

(I am aware that some people question whether the show is real. The show itself admits that it is edited, which would be necessary, and is not surprising at all. I will also say that I know at least one person who has been on it, and my sister has a coworker who knows two people who have been on it, so yeah, it appears to be real.)