Carolyn Dimmick Final PDF.indd - Washington Secretary of State

Judy – if people think that’s how judges act, it’s just such a disservice. I mean it’s just high
entertainment, and I wish people realized that. People always ask me, “What do you think
of Judge Judy?” It’s just horrible stuff!
Hughes: Any judge worth his or her salt has strong feelings about the dignity and decorum
of the court.
Dimmick: That’s right. But you know she was a municipal court judge in New York?
Hughes: I did not know that.
Dimmick: She was a real judge.
Hughes: I wonder if she behaved that way on the municipal court bench.
Dimmick: She probably did! Big, wise-taking New Yorker in there. She probably did. Given
that more and more millions of people tune in and love shows like that, I guess people just
like to see other people slapped down.
Hughes: I was really looking forward to interviewing you, but it was all the more so after I
read a couple of things we dug up, namely that you refused to back the notion that what
America needs is warning labels on milk bottles. I think that’s a breakthrough for common
sense, judge! After some of the cases you’ve heard, a little levity helps …
Dimmick: Oh yeah.
Hughes: This plaintiff in 1998 really wanted warning labels on milk bottles. He contended
he had been hooked on milk since childhood and had a stroke as a consequence. And
he argued that if tobacco products can be required to have warning labels, why not dairy
products? When you hear stuff like that do you just kind of think, “My god!”?
Dimmick: Is this what the courts are all about?
Hughes: Well, on a more sobering note, you also upheld the sex offender registry. Some
said it was subjecting the offenders to vigilantism. You held that “They put themselves
there.”
Dimmick: Protect the rest of the people. … I still feel strongly about that. But I think that
was a Supreme Court case.
Hughes: No, you were on the federal bench when you upheld the sex offender
registration.
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