The plaintiff had been acquitted of all charges in a criminal court. It turns out that the defendant had made the allegations against him only after she had been accused of stealing money from the store in which they were working. Her, the defendant admits that her employment was being "watched by the state" after she had failed multiple drug tests—one while pregnant—and had her child taken away from her. If she were to be fired from the hardware store, she'd be in trouble with the state again.


In a civil court, the burden of proof for the plaintiff was much heavier than "beyond a reasonable doubt." However, when he played audio excerpts of testimony at his trial—in which it was revealed that the defendant had been accused of stealing money at her three previous jobs—JJ had come to her decision. She awarded the plaintiff $2500, not because of the defendant's questionable history, but because she had made statements under oath in the first trial that contradicted her statements under oath in JJ's court.

He's, of course, a gigantic asshole, saying that the judgment against him (he was ordered to pay the plaintiff $5,000) is worth it, because the fliers with her image made him a lot more money than that.

The plaintiff did, in fact, have a prescription for medical marijuana due to a neck injury, but JJ knew it was baloney when she found out that he's a surfer. Still, she dismissed the plaintiff's case, because he had no legal standing.

Tara is a homeless woman in her late 20s who is addicted to partying in general. Her drug of choice wasn't really made clear. According to the urinalysis Donna gave her, Tara came up positive for just about every single drug listed, although she claimed she'd been sober for several days. Tara lost custody of her firstborn daughter after her pediatrician discovered cocaine in the child's system. Shortly thereafter, Tara's family staged an intervention, but she was kicked out of the facility when it was discovered that Tara was pregnant, and the father was her drug dealer. She subsequently lost custody of that child, as well. She was finally ready to get her life together, and hired Donna as her sober companion to help her out and get her into a sober living facility. However, Tara wanted one last party before checking in, which Donna was not having. Basically, Donna didn't believe a word that Tara said about anything, which led her to say, "You can piss on my leg and tell me it's raining…" before walking out the door.


The sober living facility Tara was to check in to requires that residents be clean for at least 48 hours before moving in. However, Tara opted to get as high as possible instead.


After partying all night, Tara contacted Donna and told her she was ready to get serious about her sobriety. Donna invited Tara to stay in her hotel room for 48 hours to make sure she was sober so that she would be able to check into a sober living facility. Upon searching Tara's bags, Donna found a freshly used needle, as well as other people's checkbooks and identification. Donna then put her own valuables in a safe deposit box so that Tara would not have to opportunity to steal her identity. Tara finally checked in to sober living and 24 hours later, she relapsed and disappeared. She returned to the facility three weeks later, but because of some felonies she was charged with, she faces a very long jail sentence.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor will sport her own version of her "judicial collar," in the session beginning September 8.

How awesome is she!?

It's like she's living my dream.

I want royalties on this shirt!

The Greatest Day, Ever [Flickr]
"Um" is not an answer [April Winchell]

The defendant is the boyfriend of the plaintiff's daughter. JJ ruled in the plaintiff's favor, saying that, even though the defendant did not sic his dog on the plaintiff, it's still his responsibility because he knew the nature and physical attributes (jaws that lock) of the dog when he purchased it.