Judge Mathis

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.

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.

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.

Judge Mathis is not a fair judge. His show does not resemble a true small claims court. He does not listen to both sides, refuses to consider evidence and listens to witnesses who have nothing to do with the case at all. He comes across as a racist, bigot and a white woman hater. Especially if the poor woman is overweight. He thinks his comments are funny, but he is cruel and would not allow anyone to speak that way to him. Especially coming from the streets, he of all people should know better. With judges like him in our courts, thank god he is only on TV, racism will never go away in our country. Thank the lord that in 27 years as a police officer in Dade County, FL I never stood before a judge as rude as he is.

If you watch this show thinking that you will learn what life is like in an American small claims court, you will be sadly disappointed. Calling the proceedings "real" is false advertising and a true disservice to the American Court System. After watching Judge Mathis these past few weeks I've decided that I don't like this show. He does not behave in a professional manner. He appears to be bias and flippant. He tends to get into irrelevant issues merely for the sake of viewer titillation. Many times he makes totally irrelevant inquiries into the sex-lives of the participants. He makes cruel and tasteless jokes that would never occur in a real court of law. He makes sexist remarks that I find offensive but I assume are supposed to be considered "humorous". He tries to come across as "hip" and "cool" rather than serious and professional. Unfortunately, this seems to be the rule for daytime TV judges rather than the exception. The only TV judge I've seen that appears to even attempt a fair, unbiased, professional manner is Judge Joe Brown. This show loves to trumpet the fact that Judge Mathis is a "real" judge. He is (or was) a judge for Detroit. But he is nothing but a clown on this show. He plays for the camera and couldn't care less about true justice. If Judge Mathis is being held up as a success story for inner-city youth, God help us. Sad. He is a man that has sold out to the big money media.