Everyone left Judge Judy’s courtroom happy for a change.
Judith Sheindlin, the wildly popular reality TV jurist, helped naturalize 149 U.S. citizens in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday.
“This is a first for me, and at my age, there aren’t many firsts anymore,” Sheindlin, 70, said.
Sheindlin is a former Family Court judge whose acid wit, street smarts and good-old common sense has propelled her to celebrity status. “Judge Judy” is the highest-rated show on daytime television, and Sheindlin pulls in $47 million a year.
Carol Amon, the chief federal judge for the Eastern District of New York, didn’t begrudge Sheindlin’s salary, but noted that her husband and housekeeper are big admirers of Judge Judy’s ability to settle legal disputes in a half-hour.
“She has been a thorn in my side for years,” Amon quipped.
After the new citizens were reminded that Sheindlin was returning to her Brooklyn roots, they were treated to a lesson in civics from a kinder and gentler Judge Judy than the one who once told a litigant on her show: “If you live to be a hundred, you will never be as smart as me.”
“Unless we demand for ourselves and our children responsible behavior … the greatness of America will be lost,” she said. “Be good children to your parents. Be good parents to your children. Be good citizens for your country.”
She also read an excerpt from the “Gettysburg Address” that speaks to the value of sacrifice.
Sheindlin posed for one photo with Mexican immigrant Lupe Delgado before dashing off without speaking to reporters.
Delgado, 50, said he was more familiar with a Spanish television version of Judge Judy than the real thing.
“I’m a real fan of hers,” said Loune Point Du Jour, 35, of Haiti. “But I like the Judge Judy we saw today better.”
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment