Fun_People Archive
1 Dec
[FAIR-L] ACTION ALERT-- Judge Judy: "Give Them All Dirty Needles And

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed,  1 Dec 99 17:41:41 -0800
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Subject: [FAIR-L] ACTION ALERT-- Judge Judy: "Give Them All Dirty Needles And
	Let Them Die"

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Excerpted-from: FAIR-L, 1 Dec 1999 19:00:46 -0500
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                                 FAIR-L
                    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
               Media analysis, critiques and news reports




ACTION ALERT:
Judge Judy: "Give Them All Dirty Needle's And Let Them Die"

December 2, 1999

Commenting on the use of needle exchange programs to prevent disease,
television's Judge Judy reportedly told a Brisbane, Australia audience:
"Give them all dirty needles and let them die."

According to Australian Associated Press (AAP) and other Australian news
outlets, Judy Sheindlin, better known as Judge Judy, made the remarks on
November 16 while on tour with her new book, Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever.
Sheindlin reportedly dismissed needle exchange advocates as "liberal morons"
before announcing her "dirty needle" solution. The audience cheered her
remarks, AAP reported (11/17/99).

In the United States, no mainstream outlet has covered the controversy as
a news story. Only syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington has addressed
Judge Judy's remarks. You can read Huffington's column at:
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/112999.html

In a statement released to the press, Sheindlin said: "Anybody who thinks
that I would advocate the government supplying tainted needles to addicts
is a fool - and that includes journalists with an agenda. What I do oppose
is a policy, which even tacitly sends the message that we, as a society,
approve or condone drug use and that includes free needles and a government
sponsored place to shoot up."

The statement pointedly does not deny that she made the remarks, but implies
that she did not mean them to be taken literally.

ACTION: If you would like to express your thoughts to Judge Judy's Paramount
syndicate, you can reach them at:

Mailto:television@pde.paramount.com
By phone: (323) 956-5000
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