Swinger Party

2009-05-18

Last week's question: What is the legal status of the verdicts shown on court tv programs?

Apparently, the legality and degree of legal binding for these shows are done on a per show basis. The People's Court's verdict is supposed to be binding, as are the verdicts in Judge Judy. Judge Joe Brown's verdicts, however, has no real judicial power. What makes this partially interesting is that both the persecutor and the defendant are paid some amount to be on the show, and whatever damages award at the end are deducted/added to that payment as necessary. The only advantage to doing this over going to actual small claims court (which has a similar damage limit of \$5,000) is that you get more publicity, and you don't have to get a lawyer. Still, I would never do something like that even if the public might be on my side. I just can't take seriously people who want to go on TV during a court case.

This week's question: I've visiting a local playground a lot lately, suddenly being in the mood to play on the swings. But why do kids (and adults) like to play on swings and slides?