Judge Mathis

On yesterday's episode, he told a lady to "get the hell out" of his courtroom. The plaintiff was attempting to explain why she relinquished custody of her 9-month old child to the grandparents. Her reason sounded legitimate to me, but he didn't want to hear it. Even when the plaintiff explained that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, he did not show much compassion for this. At one point, he said no one feels sorry for her because she gave away her child as an infant. The child, which was born a male, was now a transgender female who, according to the mother, had lied to a married couple about his/her parents having been killed in a car crash and needing money to buy clothes for the funeral. The judge never addressed the defendant's alleged crime of obtaining money by false pretenses. His ire towards the plaintiff was extreme.

Judge Mathis is the best! He always makes me laugh, because he goes off tangent sometimes when dealing with a case. He'll ask some awkward questions that aren't relevant to the case. But who cares. He has a good sense of humor, and listens to both sides of the case. Unlike those other court shows like Judge Judy who gets mad for the stupidest little things. Judge Mathis doesn't get mad if even the defendant interrupts, and is very funny. He is also fair and caring towards both parties when it comes to his final judgment of a case. If you don't have the evidence, he will of course have to dismiss your claim. But then again any judge would do the same.

Mathis is painful to watch. He is the Jerry Springer of court shows. He is a showboat who thinks he's a comedian. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to mock people and mocking is his trademark. The constant bragging and name dropping doesn't help either. At least Milian and Alex adhere to the law and maintain an ordered courtroom. In case after case he refuses to acknowledge information provided by litigants in favor of ridiculing their manner of speech. It is obvious that Mathis is masking his ignorance of the law with, what he seems to think, is snappy patter. I couldn't be paid enough to appear before this idiot with a serious suit.

I don't watch "Judge Mathis" all the time, but if I'm flipping channels and I come across it, I usually watch what's going on in the particular episode. The main reason why I enjoy watching it is Judge Mathis himself. He comes across as a very intelligent person, having been around the block many times and admitting the mistakes he made as a youth. Also, unlike many TV judges, he has a wicked sense of humor that I admit that I find amusing at times.

To some degree, I can understand many of the criticisms the show gets from people who don't like it. Unlike cases that take place in real courtrooms, the discipline and rule-following on the show is often very casual, with stuff happening that would never be tolerated in a real courtroom. Also, Mathis often bring things to a halt by telling stories or revealing his politics. But people have to remember this is a television show and is meant to be ENTERTAINING. And the people who appear on the show no doubt know that Mathis does thing his way. If the show were run like a real courtroom, it would likely be very dull. If you want to see a court case done with proper rules and procedures, visit your local courthouse.

I really use to enjoy Judge Mathis, but lately I can't hardly wait to switch the channel. I am so sick of him making everything about him and sick of hearing about how his mom raised him and his brothers. Please quit telling us stories about your life experience, let the plaintiff or defendant have their 15 minutes of fame without you butting in with a story of your own.