Judge Judy seethes over crime in U.S., rips ‘ridiculous’ policies

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Judge Judy Sheindlin is outraged by how out-of-control crime has engulfed some major cities in the United States — but it isn’t a surprise to her, either.

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“We got here because a small group of people who have very loud voices created a scenario where bad people got rewarded,” Sheindlin told Fox News. “And the victim got punished by the system.”

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The “scenario” the TV judge is referring to involves actor Steve Buscemi, who was randomly attacked in Manhattan earlier this month by an alleged assailant who would later be identified as a 50-year-old homeless man.

While Sheindlin admitted that there are situations why some criminals become criminals, she argued that it shouldn’t always justify their actions, Fox News reported.

“There is always a reason for criminal behaviour — didn’t have a good upbringing, didn’t have two parents in the house, didn’t have one parent in the house, there’s always a reason.”

She continued: “You’re mentally ill. That’s a reason. You took drugs. That’s a reason. You took alcohol, your brain is fried… Whatever it is.”

But she insisted there is “never an excuse for bad behaviour.”

Sheindlin added: “And when society started to make excuses for bad behaviour, and react to criminality based upon the excuses, it fell apart.”

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She then used New York as an example, after the state raised the minimum age to 18 from 16 for defendants to be prosecuted as adults in criminal cases.

The judge called the age change “ridiculous,” adding that if a 17-year-old kills someone, they should “never be allowed to walk the street again because society can’t take a chance.”

Sheindlin was also critical of some district attorneys.

“When you have district attorneys who are charged, whose job it is to do justice but to keep the community safe… When you have elected district attorneys who don’t know what their job is, they should go find another job,” she said.

“Fill ice cream cones someplace. But don’t ruin cities,” she added. “What’s happened around New York City, Portland, San Francisco, you had district attorneys who didn’t know what their job was. And the cities are ruined, people are leaving.”

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Sheindlin added: “I think we better get smarter before we get lost. Permanently lost.”

Sheindlin is currently in her third season of Judy Justice, following her 25-year Judge Judy run.

She recalled an interview she did with Morley Safer on 60 Minutes in 1993 where he asked her what family court would be like in the future.

“I said, ‘worse. A lot worse,’” she recounted. “And that’s what happened.”

She added: “Here we are, 30 years later, and are we in worse shape as a country, as a world, than we were in 1993? You bet your bottom we are.”

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