I Stand with the 13% of Americans Who Think Judge Judy Is on the Supreme Court

By Madeleine Davies  |  January 20, 2016 | 10:00pm
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Judge Judith Sheindlin is not a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. But maybe Judge Judith Sheindlin should be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Maybe the 13 percent of Americans who think Judge Judith Sheindlin is a U.S. Supreme Court Justice are just dreamers. And maybe we should listen to the dreamers a little more often.

The statistic comes from a report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a non profit organization with a mission “to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.”

From the report’s executive summary:

There is a crisis in American civic education. Survey after survey shows that recent college graduates are alarmingly ignorant of America’s history and heritage. They cannot identify the term lengths of members of Congress, the substance of the First Amendment, or the origin of the separation of powers. They do not know the Father of the Constitution, and nearly 10% say that Judith Sheindlin—“Judge Judy”—is on the Supreme Court.

In a survey taken by 1,000 people, the organization asked participants to identify the U.S. Supreme Court Justice out of the following names: Elena Kagan, Lawrence Warren Pierce, John Kerry and Judith Sheindlin. Out of the sample group, less than half the general population gave the correct answer (Elena Kagan) and 13 percent answered with ya girl, Judge Judy.

The statistics were slightly more reassuring with college students, with 10 percent answering Judge Judy and the majority answering correctly.

…Or maybe it’s less about “correct” and “incorrect” and more about the 10 to 13 percent who were brave enough to answer from their hearts. I am not the one to judge. I leave that job to Judge Judy.

Contact the author at [email protected].

Image via Judge Judy.

 
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