She's not saying no to Justice Judy
By Lloyd Grove
July 8, 2005
 
Judge Judy for the Supreme Court?

Syndicated television jurist Judy Sheindlin certainly isn't giving a firm no - and nobody doubts that she knows how.

"I am very flattered even to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Supreme Court," Judge Judy told me through a spokesman, in response to my pal Richard Cohen's suggestion, in yesterday's Daily News, that President Bush consider her for the vacancy created by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement.

"What Mr. Cohen is saying, tongue in cheek, is that you shouldn't choose someone based on a preconceived ideology, because that very often changes," Sheindlin went on. "What you should be looking for is someone with a sense of justice and fairness."

But Cohen was being "mostly serious," he wrote in his column.

"I have no idea if Judy Sheindlin is a Republican or a Democrat, and her legal ideology is a mystery to me," Cohen wrote. "I only know that she gets the job done and can, in the inimitable words of the Ultimate Judge Judy Web page, 'see through BS pretty fast.' That's the judge for me."

Cohen told me yesterday that he's grown attached to Judge Judy through his sick-day TV viewing at home.

When asked point-blank if she'd like to be considered for the job, Judge Judy dodged the question.

"I prefer not to rule by committee," she said.

Yeah, and I bet she'd also prefer not to give up her $30 million annual salary, but that's not the same as saying she wouldn't do it if the President called.