Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining

260 Pages·1996·13.154 MB·English

by  Judy Sheindlin, Josh Getlin

My
Don Pee on Leg
t
Me
and
Tell
Raining
It's *
«
^ ^
America Toughes
s
Family Court
Sheindlin
with Josh Getlin
Author of Beauty Fades, Dumb is Fc
111
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://www.archive.org/details/dontpeeonmylegteOOshei
Don't Pee on My Leg
Me
and
Tell
Raining
It's

My
Don't Pee on Leg
Me
and
Tell
Raining
It's
America's Toughest
Family Court Judge
Speaks Out
iMrh^QhoinHlin
with Josh Getlin
HarperPerennial
ADivisionofHarperCoWinsPublisbers
—
The names of the children, other litigants, and family members that
appeared in court before me have been changed in order to protect
their privacy, with the exception ofa few cases that became well-known
and were reported in the media or otherwise published. In those cases
the names have notbeen changed.
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1996 by Harper-
Collins Publishers.
don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. Copyright © 1996 by
Judy Sheindlin with Josh Getlin. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States ofAmerica. No part ofthis book may be used or repro-
duced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information address HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd
Street, NewYork, NY 10022.
HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or
sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets
Department, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New
York, NY 10022.
First HarperPerennialeditionpublished 1997.
DesignedbyAlma HochhauserOrenstein
The LibraryofCongresshas cataloguedthehardcoveredition as follows:
Sheindlin, Judy
Don'tpeeon mylegandtellme it's raining : Americas toug—hest
familycourtjudgespeaksout/JudySheindlinwithJoshGetlin. 1sted.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-06-017321-1
1. Ne—wYork (State). FamilyCourt (CityofNewYork) 2. Juvenile
courts NewYork (N.Y) 3. Juvenilejustice, Administration of
—
NewYork (N.Y.) 4. Juvenilejustice, Administration of United States.
I. Getlin, Josh. II. Title.
KFN5116.5.Z9S54 1996
346.74701'5,0269—dc20
[347.4706150269] 95-46424
ISBN 0-06-092794-1 (pbk.)
/RRD20
990001 19 18 17
For Murry, Ethel, Jerry, and Elaine

Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction Enough IsEnough 1
1 Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining 11
2 This Isn't Kiddy Court; It's Criminal College 33
3 Judicial Diversity Doesn't Mean a
Mixed Bag of Nuts 63
4 "Let Us Pay" Hasn't Worked; Let's Try
"Make Them Pay" 81
5 Foster Care Fiasco 107
6 Custody Wars Are Battles Without Winners 135
7 System Scammers 155
8 Get Real, Get Responsible, or: I'm a Victim,
I'm a Victim, I'm a Victim 175
9 Media Morality: Missing in Action? 205
10 Stoking My Fire 223
Conclusion People, Not Government, CreateOpportunity 233