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DON'T PEE ON MY LEG AND TELL ME IT'S RAINING: America's Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks Out by Judy with Josh Getlin Sheindlin

DON'T PEE ON MY LEG AND TELL ME IT'S RAINING: America's Toughest Family Court Judge Speaks Out

By

Pub Date: Feb. 1st, 1996
Publisher: HarperCollins

Here comes the judge--and perpetrators in family court with their attorneys must pray that it isn't Judge Judy Sheindlin. She makes advocates of Tough Love look like marshmallow liberals. As a family court judge, Sheindlin deals with juvenile criminals, custody disputes, and so-called deadbeat dads, among other cases. After 23 years in the New York City court system, here are some of the ideas she advocates: To send teenage births plummeting, parents should be required to financially support their teenage children's children--sans welfare; foster care parents should be trained and licensed; parents on welfare should lose their benefits if a child drops out of school; and women who have more than one crack-addicted baby should be incarcerated. Here's another recommendation: Book a juvenile criminal as an adult--fingerprints, photographs and records that can be shared. (One chapter subheading reads, ""If Your Killer is Only Fifteen, Are You Any Less Dead?"") In essence, she says that America celebrates victims, but not the victims of crime. Instead, it is those perceived as victims of the social safety net, who have neither money or love enough to steer them from wrongdoing. Nonsense!, says Sheindlin. Every person is responsible for his or her acts, whether it is having babies or doing drugs. On the other hand, she is a strong advocate of birth control and of joint custody for parents. Mom is not always the best nurturer, says the judge, departing from conventional wisdom. (The book's title, which is of questionable taste, is a comment borrowed from her father.) Pithy and opinionated, with many real-life case histories, this book is an eye-opener for the politically left and an ""All Right!"" cheer for the right.