The most famous judge on the planet and definitely the richest. Judy, it is so good seeing you. Oh. Always. Its so good seeing you. Always. Welcome to my home. Harvey thank you. Your home by the way, beautiful. Judy nice house. Harvey lets start off. This is about the journey in your life that turned you into the. Unstoppable force you are today. Listen to me carefully, you lie to me, ill wipe up the floor with you worse than anyone else thats ever tackled you. Tell me what this is. Judy my mother and father had a great love affair. This is a picture when they were kids. But inside this picture, i opened it up, and i found love letters. This was written in 1940. Hes writing her poetry. I intend you to marry, and i will try not to tarry with inconsequential patter, meanwhile lets agree, more of too others to see, and talk over the things that matter. Harvey so, how long were they married . Judy they were married for 48 years. They had a wonderful love story. They were a sexy couple. My mother played coy. She didnt answer a lot of his letters. So she knew he was wild about her. But their marriage was not without argument, but i think that if you have that. Thing that you cant quantify, um, you get through those periods. Harvey your dad, tell me a little bit about him. I mean, hes a great writer, for sure. I want to hear the things that had an impact on you. Judy i found my Junior High School little books that everybody signs. Yeah, yearbooks. I found my fathers page which i have inside chuckles even then he was funny, because he wrote in my yearbook. Ive signed a lot of these albums. You should be something already. I should be calling you doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or a something. Thats telling. Thats telling. No, can i tell you why i find it telling . Why . Because there was a lot of pressure then for women to be a housewife. And he would Say Something like that, so he had aspirations way beyond that for you. I didnt think of that, but thats true. Because i dont think in terms of sex when it comes to success. I think my father always, in his head, thought that i would be something different. But there was a lot of pressure in society for women to become housewives. My father taught me that sometimes you have to go against the grain. Did it put pressure on you to feel like, this is what i need to view myself as successful . No. I knew that if i felt that if i worked hard, i could have both. I could have a family and because that was important to me um, and i could have a career. I just felt it. There are other objects here that, um. These were his glasses, so for the first couple of years on the bench, i wore his glasses. Until they were good enough for me to see. laughter . Anything. If i wanted to see and view anything, i had to go to these. I grew up in a family that you were supposed to do the right thing, and that has stayed with me. That kind of upbringing has to start with murray and ethel. Did you have the kind of stupid fun that kids have . Drinking, college, where you the answer is no. judy laughs i did not. I found all of that stuff not only disinteresting, but really stupid. I just did. I didnt go to basketball games cause i hated the smell in the gym in high school. I joined a sorority for a very short period of time and the girls were just silly. The girls were all talking about oh, im gonna get married when im 19. And were going to go live in forrest hills. And i said, thats not my life. I was anxious to get on with my life. Harvey you had boyfriends when you were growing up. I had a couple. What did you look for in a boyfriend . Oh i got nothing good. laughter actually, actually, nothing good. I remember having one very, very goodlooking boyfriend who was dumb as a bucket of rocks. But i said, when i walk around with him, everybody looked and said, is he beautiful. And then we would go out and spend an evening together. There was nothing to talk about. So, that was a learning experience. But he looked good. You know, its like getting meal thats served perfectly on the plate and then you bite into it and youre, oh, my god, this is awful. laughing judy i wasnt the prettiest girl in the class, and i wasnt the smartest, so what i had to do was find something that i was really good at. I mean, i wasnt tall enough, i wasnt strong enough. I couldnt play sports, i hated swimming because i wouldnt put my face in the water. What was i going to do . And my father said to me, you argue well. You should be a senator. And i figured out to be a senator, you should go to law school first, that sets you apart as a woman. Thats how it started. This is my application for admission to the bar exam. What year . 1965. You kept it . As a matter of fact, i didnt keep this. My first husband kept it and gave it to me. Harvey you were the only woman in your law school class. In my first year at the Washington College of law. 126 and i was the only woman. Harvey howd they treat you . Judy fine. I never had an issue with gender. When you graduated law school, tell me about your first job. First job was with a cosmetics firm, casmara, incorporated. There were two lawyers hired. Its a man and a woman. He went into products liability and they gave me a long pad and they told me to call all these drugstores to take orders for soufrage which was their new product. You were a telemarketer . It was an unsatisfying job. Why would they hire you as a lawyer and then do that . Uh, i was cute, maybe they didnt take me seriously . We were paid the same thing. But they, i think, expected less from me. And i realized very quickly that the corporate world was not a world that i had an affinity for. And i didnt keep that job for very long. Did you go to another job . I didnt. Now that was a time in my life when i did what most young women did in those years, if you didnt like your job or if you worked had a baby. And i stayed home with children for a few years and then finally, in 1972, went back to work. I want to back it up your first husband. What attracted you to him . Nice guy. Hes a good dancer. It was time for me to get married, you know . All my friends were getting married. It was there were still those pressures, harvey. Even in those years. Yet earlier you said you didnt feel the. Well, i did. The need to become a housewife, to do the traditional thing. Judy i didnt but i wanted to have children. I knew i wanted to have children. I was never one of those women who said, you know, i want a career, and i and im not really into having babies. Did you want a husband . Yes. Oh, yes. Then one didnt go without the other. You left your house either in a pine box or a white dress. Those were the only two ways you left your house. So, it was time for me to get married i was 20, almost 21, it seemed like the right thing to do. I gotta stop you. You were such a strong person. You wanted to be a lawyer, and its like, i didnt like my first job so ill have a baby. It doesnt sound like you. It doesnt sound well. But it was. You dont see a paradox there . I do, but it was time to have a baby. Nobody had children after they were 30. Because you were told you would have terrible deformed children if you were over 30. So i became a mom twice. But after a period of time, i was bored, i went back to school, i went for a masters at nyu in family law. You were more than bored. I was very bored. I was bored home. And we moved to the country which is uber bored. laughs ive read that you said you felt your brain was atrophying. Thats true. I actually watched soap operas. I looked forward to them. What didnt work for you. Staying home. Not being engaged. Not being engaged outside of the home. It didnt work for me. But im not sorry i had those five or six years of staying home. I tried it and it didnt work for me. So what happened in that relationship . We grew differently, and my first husband is a lovely, lovely man. But he always viewed my job as a hobby, and there came a time when i resented that. I think, as most men, he didnt want his life interrupted. He didnt want anything that. Interfered with the way he ran his life and his practice, and i said, we both work, so we both have to share the responsibility. What was his reaction . Your job is a hobby. Did you have a sense of that before you got married . No, i think that there is a difference between men and women as a warrior and a nurturer. I was more than happy, to make things run smoothly, to do the running back and forth to events and to making the lunches and to do all of those things. You would never do that today. You still do that today because thats the way. Its innate. Is it . Yes. It some women. I mean, some women are not nurturers at all. And ive met them, and i know who they are. Shes a bad mother. Shes so full of anger and hate in her heart, that it obscures her judgment as far as being a good mother. When you decided to divorce ron, you had two kids. Judy yes. Harvey scary . Judy very, it was scary. First of all, i was the first divorce in my family. Interestingly, i had told my father that i wasnt happy and i wanted to divorce ron and my father said to me, and he loved me more than anything in the world, he said to me, two innocent people shouldnt suffer because of what two guilty people did. And i was hurt by that because i said how could he even say that to me . But eventually he came around. He saw how unhappy i was. And it was the right thing. Because i moved to the city. Within a relatively short time, i met Jerry Sheindlin. So, it was it was a frightening time, but a fun time. So, youre almost saying that people without kids should not be sitting, judging families with kids. Am i saying that . A little bit. I would not disagree with you. Your objection is noted, its overruled, have a seat. This is a picture of the man that made it all possible. He appointed Jerry Sheindlin and Judy Sheindlin me first to the family court bench. Jerry about six months later to the criminal court bench. Harvey hold on. All three, television judges. Judy thats right. Harvey all three television judges. Judy all three isnt that fabulous . Harvey why did you want to become a judge . You were a lawyer, you had options. Why judge . I like to make decisions. And i practiced before family court judges, many of whom are morons. And destroyed more lives than they helped. Half of them came back from lunch drunk, and they were ruling on the lives of people who couldnt take care of themselves, children who were unable to protect themselves. I took six tylenol a day when i sat in family court and i loved every minute of it. It was an exhilarating, exciting thing, to try to make a system that was broken work. Harvey it wasnt depressing . Judy frustrating, i wasnt depressed. It was a frustration that i felt which caused me to take the tylenol. That i couldnt figure out in a particular case how to fix it. Do you feel like you made a difference with the people who came before you . Some. Yes. Some. Do you think you saved some people . Some. Yes. Just tell me what you want. Old reports or new reports, and ill give you whatever you want. Well, i believe that new reports should be ordered good. Order new reports. Man because i believe that there are many. Order new harvey you were very different from most other judges when you sat. There were people who felt that you were kind of creating a legal system around your values. Thats absolutely correct. I think once somebody said they were selling crack because they went in the wrong path after a Family Member died. He was convicted of selling a controlled substance. His lawyer said to me, he was having a very bad time because his grandmother died. And i remember it. I said, you know, i lost both my grandparents. I grieved, i cried, i remembered not eating for a couple of days, but my reaction to my grandparents death, all four of them, was not to go out and sell crack. chuckles was not. Thats not a normal reaction. Because if your reaction is to sell crack, you could just as easily say, it would make me feel better if i shot that cab driver in the head. I refuse to allow you to. Make an excuse of abusing children because you were drunk or because you were high. Thats my business, and i will not allow that to be an excuse for irreverent behavior. Is there a difference between men and women as lawyers, judges . Judy no, there are good ones and there are bad ones. You bring to the bench your lifes experience. If you were a single woman without children and a judge, and we had many of those, you could only think about. What it would feel like if your husband left you for a younger woman and then he brought her to pick up the kids saturday for visitation and she looked a lot better than you did and the kids called her mommy. Do you understand . Mmhmm. Or, mommy jeannie. laughs unless you lived that, or had kids and could have that you had no idea what so, youre almost saying that people without kids should not be sitting judging families with kids. Am i saying that . Harvey a little bit. I would not disagree with you. Harvey you came from a very loving home, there are a lot of people who dont and a lot of people who see bad things growing up. When people duplicate, replicate, what they saw, what they know, do you have any sympathy for them . If its bad . Do i have sympathy for them . I have sympathy for them, but my greatest sympathy lies with the innocent people who they hurt. My sympathies lie with the victims of violent crime, not with the perpetrator. This last 22 years has been one grand party. You never thought when you watched Peoples Court with wapner, i could do that better . Its something im interested oh, i thought that every day, that i could do that better. laughs with wapner, i could do that better . Its something im interested whats the story behind Green Mountain coffee and fair trade . Lets take a flight to colombia. This is boris calvo. Boris grows mindblowing coffee. And because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. All for a smoother tasting cup. Green mountain coffee. [notification tone] i love your vest. Your crocheted purses have wonderful eyes. In the modern world, an app can help you find your Perfect Match. And with esurance, coverage counselor® can help you find great coverage thats a Perfect Match too. Thats auto and Home Insurance for the modern world. Esurance. An allstate company. Click or call. S this is a fox news alert im mary an rafferty, protests turning violent after the aquilt of a white Police Officer in the quilling of a black man in 2011. A group of demonstrators are causing damage in a downtown area breaking windows and vandalizing buildings. Police saying this is no longer a peaceful protest. Officers in riot gear are onscene working to disperse the crowd. One bike officer taken to the hospital with a nonlifethreatening injury. Police say there have been multiple arrests. And another hurricane setting sights on the caribbean days after the islands were ravaged by irma. Forecasters saying Hurricane Maria is likely to strengthen before it hits the Leeward Islands monday night. Urging areas to leave prone to flooding. Now back to objectified judge judy. Tar on the hollywood walk of fame. Man we proudly welcome, to the hollywood walk of fame, judge Judy Sheindlin, right there applause and cheers judy i think it was the show had been on the air for 10 years. I never thought the show would last for 10 years. And here we are going into season 22. Harvey wow. Judy when i was told that this was going to happen, they said, you have several choices, where you would like your star to be. And i said, i want to rest next to sidney poitier. laughs so im right next to sidney poitier. Harvey good company. Judy whos a friend. Good company. Did you have fantasies about this . I mean, im obviously, i have a connection to Peoples Court. Im assuming you watched Peoples Court from time to time, with judge wapner. I did. I remember it was the first glimpse that everybody had into a court room. Tv announcer what you are witnessing is real. The Peoples Court. Whatd you think . I thought he was humorless, actually. But if you wear anything other than a wedding ring, or stud earrings to work and theyre lost or stolen, thats just your tough luck. But it was fine. I never found him a particularly charismatic fellow, and i know he for sure wasnt crazy about me. But i think he wanted to do the right thing. I think he was very interested in a just result all the time. You never thought, when you watched the Peoples Court with wapner, i could do that better, at some point . Oh, i thought that every day, that i could do that better. laughing did you were you ever interested in it . I did, as a matter of fact. And i said, you know what . Wapner is retiring, i probably could do that job. And i got the telephone number of the office. And i called and somebody answered the phone, and i said, hi, my name is judge Judy Sheindlin and im a judge, im from new york. Did you guys ever think of doing a distaff female Peoples Court. and whoever was on the phone was a woman and she said to me, lady, were packing up, the show is over, goodbye. And hung up the phone. That really happened . That really happened. But everything turns out for a reason. Judith sheindlin. Judge judith sheindlin. And if you find her a little bit shrill, a little bit testy, well, shed be very pleased. One of my favorite things ive ever seen on 60 minutes over the years was your profile. That had a huge impact into you going into television. Judy oh, sure. Morley safer to sheindlin, justice must not only be done and seen to be done, it must be seen to be done fast. Could you please move on, miss allen . I have about 20 other cases to do today, counselor. From that 60 minutes piece, a couple of years later two of the girls from the Peoples Court called me in my chambers and said, would you ever think of doing this . And it was from that, came came the show. I went out to california and larry little said, if you sign on the dotted line ill make a pilot. And that was it. Tv announcer you are about to enter the court room of judge judith sheindlin. The people are real, the cases are real, the rulings are final. This is judge judy. It was a risk. It was a risk. I knew i would have to go back to work if it didnt work out. But they paid me enough the first year, which was a guarantee, so that i was making, in that first year, three times as much as i was making on the bench. And so i figured i had a threeyear grace period to make it work. To