Does Judge Judy actually have the power to enforce the law?

Sort of.

She is no longer a sitting judge in the legal sense. The people who appear on the show sign a legal document stating that they will follow whatever her judgment is.

It is called "Binding Arbitration." They are just doing it on television.

If someone fails to follow the judgment, they can be sued in a real court and made to, due to the contract they signed.

Hmmm, you should rephrase your question. Is she a real judge that can hand down fines/punishment? Yes. Can she enforce those fines? No. A lot of people think that if a court (even a tv court) rules against a person that immediately that person has to pay that amount. THAT IS WRONG. It is not up to the court to go after that person to pay. The winner in the litagation has to file what is called an "execution" in order to get the money. The court does not go after a person if they do not pay, they dont check up on them or anything. It is soley up to that person who won the case to get the money out of the other people. But that would make a court decision moot right? Not necessarily. Once loser doesnt pay the winner, they can take the other person to court again. This time the judge will either impose an additional fine and/or a benchmark to pay the money back. Now if the person doesnt pay or create a reasonable payment schedule by the time given by the court, they will do jail time comparable to the amount they owe.

She is actually no longer a Judge, but she throws around the title. The show should more aptly be named "Legal Arbitrator Judy". The show sensationalizes the cases at hand and uses financial incentives (including the fact that people get to show up on TV) to keep the show alive.

It is a show. The fines are paid by the show. The litigants are paid transportation, expenses, and the fines. If you watch closely part of the judges rulings come from whether she believes if the case is a real conflict or if the litigants are in chahotes

LOL!!! decide Judy is thru no ability for the bleeding hearts. i ought to work out how she ought to come for the time of as too annoying at situations yet she has a no nonsense attitude that appeals to a definite demographic. in case you think of roughly it and watch her it form of feels she truly has no tolerance for human beings doing dumb issues or making detrimental judgements exceedingly in the event that they'd desire to comprehend extra helpful. good question..You get a superstar...

Yes

No. She's retired. She is an arbitrator on the show, but her judgments can be enforced by a court, if it came to that.

Yes, and beyond that, the ones who win a case actually get paid unlike many small claims cases. The TV show pays the judgment and the expenses of the 2 sides. It's a good deal for both sides, so they must be pretending if they're mad at losing.

Hell yeah. She's Judge Judy. She doesn't take any ****. She really is a judge, married to a judge. She set a precedent for woman judges, she refused to let crap get through the system. Her show is real.

Yes. she can but only for civil cases and not criminal cases.

Roy