Recurring Judges: Choose Your Justice!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Thought that the recurring judges deserved their own thread as well.  There were a few that I loved, and a couple who I wish would jump out their window and just fall and never return.

 

Off the top of my head, My favorite male judges were Judge Schrieber, who seemed to me, to be the most fair and objective. Played by the wonderful John Ramsay.  Lee Shepard's Judge was also a winner, though I'm blanking on his name.  Then there was Judge Mooney. And shoot, I can't remember his name, character or actor, but he played Mac on As the World Turns, and I think he was also Kojak's boss in Kojak. Dan something or other.

 

There are two female judges who I love to death. The one played by the late and wonderful Doris Belak; no nonsense, yet fair. I loved when she would have discussions in her chambers while serving tea.  The other is Judge Blomert, I think her name was? She was the one who gave Melissa Leo's defense attorney a smackdown in Season 4's "Ratings." She didn't tolerate bullshit. Very dry sense of humor.

 

Honorable mentions go to the judge who always seemed to be the judge who 99% of the time, was at the bail hearings. Loved him.  And Judge Fisbind (spelling)...we met him the first time when Paul was trying to get a warrant, and I wish I could remember which episode it was, but it was or a wiretap, and I remember him saying "Oh, a waaaaarrant!" Wish we'd seen more of him. He showed up again when Claire wanted a warrant as well, and he was running to the little judge's room and Claire had to do some fast talking.

 

Then there were the douchebag judges. The top one is that Nathan person in "I.D." who basically sexually harassed Jamie. Dude can be seen on The Good Wife these days as the clueless, ignorant partner.

 

So, who are your favorites? The ones you loathed? Speak now! Don't worry, there won't be any Objections!

[Spartan Girl]

The obviously biased judge in the episode where the mentally disabled girl was raped is definitely one I loathed.  How the hell did he not get recused from the case when he so obviously made up his mind long before the trial even started never fails to piss me off.

[GHScorpiosRule]

The obviously biased judge in the episode where the mentally disabled girl was raped is definitely one I loathed.  How the hell did he not get recused from the case when he so obviously made up his mind long before the trial even started never fails to piss me off.

 

Oh, yeah. Played by something McLarty. And the one time where Weist's DA showed some balls, when she threatened him.

[augmentedfourth]

Honorable mentions go to the judge who always seemed to be the judge who 99% of the time, was at the bail hearings.

 

This is exactly who I thought of first. He was just so charmingly grumpy and got in some awesome snarky lines every now and then. My father has the attention span of a golden retriever puppy and can't sit still for more than two minutes at a time, so he'd rarely watch an entire L&O episode when I was still living at home, but he'd often wander by right as the bail hearings were going on and laugh at that judge. Thus, he became my father's favorite character in the entire franchise. :D

[GHScorpiosRule]

Currently watching seasons 7 and 8, and how could I have forgotten these:

 

Honorable Scarletti, from "Nullification" and another case from season 7, the one where Chris Cooper's character was a defense attorney for the KKK...the episode was about a college student who murdered his teacher who was Jewish.

 

Then Stein, who doesn't tolerate bullshit, in "Blood", and "Seed" to name two.

 

Goldman, who I flip flop depending on which way she goes. She was the judge who was skeptical about the shadow investigation in "Shadow" but also like to make new law...

 

Aaaaand, that one woman judge with her New Yawk accent at bail hearings...she alternated with the one above, and since I just watched it, was in "Nullification."

[GHScorpiosRule]

Another judge I like, even though I don't always agree with him. Judge Robert Quinn, who appeared in Season 8's "Stalker" and Season 9's "Ambitious." Played by Roger Serbagi. Something about his baritone, gruff, no nonsense voice.

 

Though I didn't like him throwing out the victim's dying declaration that it was Giovanni there to kill her, I understood it.

[nygma619]

The obviously biased judge in the episode where the mentally disabled girl was raped is definitely one I loathed.  How the hell did he not get recused from the case when he so obviously made up his mind long before the trial even started never fails to piss me off.

 

Because we can all THINK he made up his mind before trial. But we (along with McCoy) can't prove that, unfortunately.

 

But even then. I still don't get WHY McCoy didn't go to appeal's court to get the jury's conviction that was set aside reinstated?

 

I think appeals would have easily overturned Judge Wright's decision, since her consent had NOTHING to do with being curious about her body like he claimed, and had MORE to do with desperately wanting acceptance from ANYONE who said they liked/loved her. The girl would have picked up a gun and shot someone IF those same boys coerced into doing that.

[mattie0808]

The obviously biased judge in the episode where the mentally disabled girl was raped is definitely one I loathed.  How the hell did he not get recused from the case when he so obviously made up his mind long before the trial even started never fails to piss me off.

I think that's the only episode of Law & Order I sincerely can't watch. I just get too crazy. Like blind with rage. Shouldn't react like that to a TV show maybe, but I can't take watching it.

 

Aaaaand, that one woman judge with her New Yawk accent at bail hearings...she alternated with the one above, and since I just watched it, was in "Nullification."

I'm not sure if this is the one you mean, but the one who came to mind was in the episode with the woman who ran over her husband with her car (four times! lol), and when she openly says what she did at the arraignment, the judge says to the woman: "[Y]ou make me proud to be an American." Lolololololol.

Edited August 15, 2014 by mattie0808

[WendyCR72]

I'm a bad L&O fan in that I never memorized any of the judge's names, but there's one bald guy who was always sarcastic as hell, making all sorts of quips during arraignment, and I always got a kick out of him. Not sure judges would be so mouthy in real life, but the actor had the essence of a jaded New Yorker down pat. Kind of funny (no pun intended) how some judges provided a measure of comic relief.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm a bad L&O fan in that I never memorized any of the judge's names, but there's one bald guy who was always sarcastic as hell, making all sorts of quips during arraignment, and I always got a kick out of him. Not sure judges would be so mouthy in real life, but the actor had the essence of a jaded New Yorker down pat. Kind of funny (no pun intended) how some judges provided a measure of comic relief.

 

Yes, you are, Wendy. I mentioned him as an Honorable mention in my first post--he was the arraignment judge 99% of the time. And only once did I see him do an arraignment at the defendant's hospital bedside, I think it was.

[Maherjunkie]

Judge Lisa Pongracic.  She was the mother in Mystic Pizza.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Ooh-Ooh-Ooh-Ooh-Ooh! (Does Ahrnald Horshack imitation)

 

Two more justices! The judge presiding over the trial in "Blood is Thicker"--she don't tolerate no bullshit from Defense Counsel (and yes, I know I used a double negative which is a no-no), and the judge who ordered the parents of the girl who cried rape in "In the half-light" and ripped the Congressman"Sharpton" a new one, to let the cops talk to their daughter or face a contempt citation-30 days in jail, I think it was. And did a glorious job telling them to get new counsel, who was another rhethoric speaking jerk.

[nygma619]

Because we can all THINK he made up his mind before trial. But we (along with McCoy) can't prove that, unfortunately.

 

But even then. I still don't get WHY McCoy didn't go to appeal's court to get the jury's conviction that was set aside reinstated?

 

I think appeals would have easily overturned Judge Wright's decision, since her consent had NOTHING to do with being curious about her body like he claimed, and had MORE to do with desperately wanting acceptance from ANYONE who said they liked/loved her. The girl would have picked up a gun and shot someone IF those same boys coerced into doing that.

Okay so I somehow managed to stomach the tragedy in this episode again.  Apparently this WAS brought up by Jack and Jamie on multiple fronts.  But the reason we don't see this option, Jack stated by the time it gets to appeals they'll be in Graduate School. So they try to get them behind bars sooner.

 

This explanation drove me NUTS because while that holds true in real life; nearly EVERY TIME we visited the appealiate courts on the show, only 1-3 months would pass.

 

If they want to take some liberties with how long justice takes on the show, fine I can let it slide. But they can't just use real life time, after IGNORING it, because it's not convenient for the kind of story you want to do.

 

I don't have a problem with having a downer ending, but the way they arrived at their designation here was absolutely contrived based on what they established.

[Spartan Girl]

One great judge that ought to be mentioned in this thread is the one in "Indifference."  His smackdown of the Lowensteins during sentencing was just absolutely beautiful, especially to Jacob Lowenstein.  "I thought I had witnessed every sort of degradation possible, but you sir are beyond contempt."

 

And I loved his response to Lowenstein whining about how he lost his family: "Yes, you have."  Perfect.

[WendyCR72]

One great judge that ought to be mentioned in this thread is the one in "Indifference."  His smackdown of the Lowensteins during sentencing was just absolutely beautiful, especially to Jacob Lowenstein.  "I thought I had witnessed every sort of degradation possible, but you sir are beyond contempt."

 

And I loved his response to Lowenstein whining about how he lost his family: "Yes, you have."  Perfect.

 

I forgot about him. But, yes, he was fabulous. Which makes the S15 follow-up episode "Fixed" all the more incomprehensible in changing the story. Those two weren't supposed to leave prison. At least Jacob Lowenstein wasn't. Even a line about something being thrown out on appeal may have helped.

 

But oh well. That smackdown was still a thing of beauty.

[GHScorpiosRule]

One great judge that ought to be mentioned in this thread is the one in "Indifference."  His smackdown of the Lowensteins during sentencing was just absolutely beautiful, especially to Jacob Lowenstein.  "I thought I had witnessed every sort of degradation possible, but you sir are beyond contempt."

 

And I loved his response to Lowenstein whining about how he lost his family: "Yes, you have."  Perfect.

 

That was Judge Erdheim, who, sadly, would end up being a crooked judge In Season 6's "Jeopardy."  I think it was because his wife divorced him, and he needed the money. Why they had to ruin such a good judge, I'll never understand.  They should have him be the trial judge for the woman who killed Lowenstein in "Fixed." That would have made it a complete full circle.

[Eolivet]

Did someone mention the judge who knows Denise Grobman (the woman whose husband paid someone to shoot her because his little furry feelings were hurt that she was more successful than he was) personally in "DNR?" Balancing her professional opinion with her personal interest was wrenching to watch. And when Denise Grobman cries, "Lisa!" (using her real name), it's hard not to be moved. That judge did a great job in that small, but crucial role.

[Spartan Girl]

I was just coming on this board to mention that!  God, that jerk deserves a special place in hell for what he did to her.  I love Jack reaming him out at the end.

 

Wasn't Denise Grobman also the judge in "Red Ball" that put the kibosh on the kidnapper exchanging the child he took for a walk?  "You made no deal with me!"  That was completely awesome.

 

So that judge in "Indifference" was also the one that sold out in "Jeopardy"?  How disappointing...

[GHScorpiosRule]

Wasn't Denise Grobman also the judge in "Red Ball" that put the kibosh on the kidnapper exchanging the child he took for a walk?  "You made no deal with me!"  That was completely awesome.

 

Yes, she's another regular. I can't recall other episodes I've seen her on, but she does fall under recurring.

 

 

 

So that judge in "Indifference" was also the one that sold out in "Jeopardy"?  How disappointing...

 

Sadly, yes. And I loved him in "Indifference."

[GHScorpiosRule]

Ooh! Another justice I love- played by the Cool Whip lady! Who also used to be the Palmolive lady. And now I'm blanking which eppie I just saw her on. This past week or something season one. I'm blaming the drugs for the blanking.

[wanderingstar]

Judge Rebecca Steinman is everything. Her deadpan snark is the best!

[Xeliou66]

My favorites would be  : Judge Schreiber, who seemed very fair and unbiased, Judge Bradley, another very good judge that probably appeared more than of them between L&O and SVU, and Judge Pongracic. Also I liked judges Callahan, Karan and Harrison Taylor they were always good in their appearances. One thing I always found funny was that they had 2 separate judges named Rebecca Stein and Rebecca Steinman, both of them were good judges. 

Worst judges would be Nathan Marks from ID, William Wright, who had an extreme bias against McCoy for some unknown reason, and Edgar Hynes from Jeopardy who threw a case. It's interesting as I've never connected the fact that the same actor played Hynes and the judge in Indifference but they had different names. I wonder if they were the same judge. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

and Edgar Hynes from Jeopardy who threw a case. It's interesting as I've never connected the fact that the same actor played Hynes and the judge in Indifference but they had different names. I wonder if they were the same judge. 

Nope- he played Judge Erdheim in "Indifference."

[Xeliou66]

Yeah I said they had different names but I always wonder if the writers meant it to be the same judge. The same way I wonder about whether the defensive attorney played by Ned Eisenberg on L&O and on SVU were the same character, even though on L&O he was called Granick and on SVU he was named Kressler. Could go either way. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

Yeah I said they had different names but I always wonder if the writers meant it to be the same judge. The same way I wonder about whether the defensive attorney played by Ned Eisenberg on L&O and on SVU were the same character, even though on L&O he was called Granick and on SVU he was named Kressler. Could go either way. 

I don't think so. Even John Ramsey, who played Schreiber, played a different judge in his first appearance.

I just took these as using the same actors to play different roles.

[Xeliou66]

Yeah I agree they were probably different, but in the case of Granick and Kressler they have basically the same personality and defend the same type of clients, it seems that they were the same. It was so stupid of the SVU writers not to use the name Granick when they casted Ned Eisenberg as a defense lawyer.

[Snookums]

Quote

This is exactly who I thought of first. He was just so charmingly grumpy and got in some awesome snarky lines every now and then.

My husband and I both adore him.  When waiting on a long time coming plea: "At last. I thought you were being paid by the word."

[wanderingstar]

I always liked Judge Rebecca Steinman, played by Susan Blommaert. Her deadpan deliveries give me life.

[Xeliou66]

Another good judge was Henry Fillmore, always kept good order in his courtroom and was unbiased.

One judge that always irked me was Judge Robert Quinn, he was always extremely biased in favor of the defense, it's very noticeable in episodes such as Vengeance and Matrimony, he will always side with the defense even on very iffy objections and motions. 

[Xeliou66]

One thing that is interesting to me is that Judge Morris Torledsky, the bald arraignment court judge, only appeared in 27 L&O episodes and made his last appearance in season 16, like others said, it seemed like he handled almost all of the arraignments, so it was interesting that while 27 episodes is a good amount for a recurring character, he didn't appear nearly as much as I thought he did. He was a very memorable judge, guess that's why it seems like he appeared so much, too bad he didn't appear in the last 4 years, he was hands down the best arraignment judge, I would've liked to have seen him preside over a trial.

[ktwo]

RIP Mike Hodge, who played a judge on many episodes of L&O and SVU. Saw him on the SAG Awards In Memoriam - he was also the president of SAG’s NYC chapter.

[Prairie Rose]

I looked forward to arraignments when Morris Torledsky was the judge. He seemed so weary, so cynical, so bored. He was awesome!!

 

[Prairie Rose]

On 8/4/2014 at 9:05 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Another judge I like, even though I don't always agree with him. Judge Robert Quinn, who appeared in Season 8's "Stalker" and Season 9's "Ambitious." Played by Roger Serbagi. Something about his baritone, gruff, no nonsense voice.

Fun fact: Roger Serbagi was married to soap actress Anna Stuart (The Doctors, Another World, All My Children, etc.) in the 1970s. He had a bit role on an episode of The Doctors in 1972. If I can find the screen cap, I'll post it here.

In my previous post, I forgot to include Judge Walter Bradley. Not just here, but on SVU. He was part of the all-judge poker game Casey Novak interrupted to have a warrant signed!!! 😂

[Prairie Rose]

@GHScorpiosRule, here is Roger Serbagi on The Doctors, 1972:

[GHScorpiosRule]

I love Sam Gray. He played Judge Leon in four of  his five appearances. 

He played a different judge in season three’s season finale “Benevolence” and had a sense of humor when Paul was asking for a warrant!

I also loved the trial judge-who isn’t credited,  but I’m still searching. He looks like O’Malley, but I’m not sure. LOVED him denying that ASS Gold’s ridiculous motion.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Holy Schmoly! I thought I was confused but I was right. Show changed actors for Judge Grace Larkin. She first appeared as the white haired judge in “Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die” but when we see her again, she’s a younger blonde judge in “Manhood” and subsequent episodes. Same name: Judge Grace Larkin. They also changed her personality. She was a cantankerous and gruff judge in her first episode and then a more reasonable one after the recast.