I know some were actual judges (Judge Judy in Family court, etc.). Maria Lopez was run out of Boston on a rail practically after an insane display on the stand that (thank God) was captured by local media.
A guy (who happened to be a transsexual) had kidnapped a little boy and made him perform oral sex on him at knifepoint. An off duty cop happened to be passing and saw this, made the arrest.
Lopez was notorious for bending over backwards for sex offenders, so the prosecutors tipped off the media to be there to see how she handled the case. She basically screamed at the prosecutor instead of letting him complete a sentence, ordered him to sit down like a raging harpie, and let the guy get off with pretty much no punishment (maybe it was house arrest at his public housing address with lots of kids in it -- my memory's fading. I do remember he was run out of public housing after that because it was for his mother and there was no obligation that the state should house HIM there). At any rate, she turned things around so that this "poor misunderstood man" was the victim instead of the child with the knife to his throat.
At any rate, she and her husband were so furious at the media coverage that to "defend" her they started a smear campaign against the little boy victim. It was really low down and dirty (of course her husband publishes the local escort service newspaper of record, so...)
At any rate, she got fired as a judge because the heat was getting too hot and other judges were beginning to be looked at in hopes of finding more abuses, so they cut their losses and booted her out.
And so she got a tv contract. But at least little children are a bit safer in Boston.
My favorite judge is Marilyn Milian on The People's Court. She's tough, but fair. She can be mean when necessary but tries to be sympathetic. I always thought the judge shows were real ... the litigants never come across as fake to me. But what do I know other than that they're entertaining.
