Fordham Law Forum on Law, Culture, & Society

Big Ideas. Intimate Settings. Interactive Conversations.

Courtrooms as TV Entertainment

The audience that attended the Forum: Courtrooms as TV Entertainment, learned many things on the night when we hosted Judges Marilyn Milian and Alex Ferrer. First, as an incentive for parties to opt out of small claims court and to enter the legal arena of reality TV, the producers agree to pay the cost of the losing side--meaning that whatever monetary judgment is handed down, the defendant will not be responsible for paying it. The producers of the show will pay the damage award. Second, these TV courtrooms scour the country for interesting, sometimes salacious cases that are scheduled to be heard in small claims court. Then they determine whether the parties to the action, along with their claims, would make for engaging, compelling television. The result is binding arbitration--whatever happens on television in resolving the case, whatever judgment the judges reach, is final. There is no appeal. But would this formula work with more complex cases, those that are not heard in small claims court? And why is it that people choose to opt out of the essential privacy of a state court proceeding in order to be humiliated in front of a national television audience?

We screened a few clips of our judges, sitting on the bench, ruling on cases, and in some instances, functioning m0re like real people with actual emotions than cold jurists. In fact, in one clip we saw Judge Milian tearfully telling a plaintiff that it was time for him to get on with his life. In another clip, Judge Ferrer had completely disarmed a plaintiff by engaging in a conversation that seemed too personal and would have been regarded as undignified if not altogether inappropriate in a more conventional court of law. Both of our guests, however, agreed that such displays of human behavior humanized the legal experience for most people, rather than having the law come across as cold, unfeeling, and remote from basic human emotions. Bringing judges down from their pedestals of emotional indifference builds greater trust with those who appear before them and provides citizens with a stronger connection to justice and a greater sense that they have actually received a true hearing and their day in court. As Judge Milian said: "The people love us. What they don't love are the judges who have treated them badly and shown them no respect."