TV Viewers’ Choice for the Supreme Court : Judge Wapner: America’s Favorite Jurist

He is America’s favorite judge, and if television viewers had a say, Joseph Wapner would be filling the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

But Judge Wapner, who reigns supreme on the daily bench of video jurisprudence--”The People’s Court”--is a realist.

“Every lawyer and judge would like to be on the Supreme Court,” he said, “but I have to be practical. The President’s not going to appoint me. I’m 68 years old.”

Through his popular syndicated program, which brings actual small claims court cases to Wapner’s sound stage courtroom on 162 television stations nationwide, the silver-haired jurist has become the nation’s most trusted judge.

Razor-Sharp Reasoning

He mixes the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon and his own razor-sharp reasoning to render binding decisions on the adversaries who choose to have their cases heard in “The People’s Court.”

Although he had seen almost everything during his 20 years as a Municipal Court and Superior Court judge, Wapner’s seven years of gavel pounding on “The People’s Court” have brought out the bizarre.

“If you go down and sit in small claims court you’ll hear the same things I hear every day,” Wapner said. “Everyone is entitled to their day in court, irrespective of what you consider to be minutia. We are, after all, dealing with small claims.”

Take the case of the 75-cent can of flat beer.

Wapner found in favor of a beer drinker who bought a cold one, found after a guzzle that it was flat and demanded another beer or his money back.

Cost Him Money

“For 75 cents, this man spends $6 for filing (the suit) and $14 for serving the papers,” Wapner said. “He’s going to get a judgment maybe for 75 cents and then he has the court costs on top of it.

“But the man was just as sincere as he could possibly be,” the judge recalled. “I gave him his 75 cents. No one should have to drink flat beer.”

Or, try the case of the punchy television repairman.

A man goes into a television repair shop to pick up his set, only to find that it has been lost. An argument breaks out. Later that evening, the owner of the repair shop, still steaming, dreams that he got the best of his cranky customer.

But while sleeping, the repairman punches himself in the mouth and knocks out an all-too-real tooth. Back in the real world, the repairman sues the customer for the cost of his dental bill.

‘It Was Mind-Boggling’

“From a legal standpoint it was mind-boggling,” Wapner said. “But he was so sincere in what he was doing. Obviously, I found against him.

“There comes a point when you think, ‘Why did this person bother?’ But the answer I always get and that I’ve come to believe is that it’s the principle of the thing.”

For Wapner, these cases and others are all part of a day’s work. Recently, the judge, who lives in Bel-Air with his wife, collected his most outrageous courtroom capers in “A View From the Bench,” published by Simon & Schuster.

Wapner, who describes himself as having a “take-charge attitude” and a “love to make decisions,” comes from a legal family. His father was a lawyer and Wapner’s two sons are both lawyers.

Won a Conviction

One son, Fred Wapner, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, made headlines of his own recently as he won the conviction of so-called Billionaire Boys Club founder Joe Hunt on a murder charge, even though the victim’s body was never found.

“I’m very proud of my son having tried that Billionaire Boys Club case. He works hard and I think he’s a very fine lawyer,” Wapner said. “I’m proud of him, and I’m proud of my other son who practices business law in West Los Angeles. It was very nice that both of them followed in the old man’s footsteps.”