Judy Sheindlin, the former prosecutor and Manhattan family court judge who turned televised small claims disputes into a daytime institution, is stepping away from the courtroom set that made her famous. The 83-year-old, known to generations of viewers as Judge Judy, is ending her on-camera courtroom career when her Amazon Prime Video series “Judy Justice” wraps its run in October, closing out nearly three decades of ruling from a TV bench.
She is not leaving the television business. Sheindlin stays on as a producer, and she is developing “Judyverse,” an animated project built around the AI-generated “Baby Judge Judy” clips that have circulated online. What ends is the part viewers actually see: the robe, the gavel and the daily grind of sitting in front of a camera.
The handoff stays in the family. Her son, Judge Adam Levy, 58, launches his own syndicated courtroom series, “Adam’s Law,” on Monday, September 14, 2026, almost exactly three decades after “Judge Judy” first aired. His mother is producing the show, which handles small claims cases — the same territory as “Judy Justice.”
Sheindlin laid out her thinking in a new interview with PEOPLE. “I don’t want to do hair and makeup anymore, but I still want my message to get out there,” Sheindlin said.
From Family Court to Daytime Dominance
“Judge Judy” premiered in 1996 and ran for 25 seasons before ending in 2021. The syndicated half-hour dominated daytime ratings and turned Sheindlin into a household name, powered by her rulings and by her willingness to cut a litigant off mid-excuse. She became the highest-paid woman on television.
She was back on the bench the same year the original show signed off, launching “Judy Justice” in 2021. The move to streaming brought a new format with it, but not a new personality: the same unvarnished manner that carried her through syndication came along intact.
That run adds up to close to three decades of American screen time, and Sheindlin says she has nothing left to prove. “I don’t have to prove anything else. I did it,” she said.
Passing the Gavel to Her Son
Levy has spent his working life in courtrooms and, more recently, in television studios. He earned his law degree at Hofstra Law School in 1992 and served two terms as district attorney in Putnam County, New York, from 2008 through 2015. Since 2023 he has sat as one of the judges on Prime Video’s “Tribunal Justice,” a panel-based court show, spending three seasons there before landing a bench of his own.
His mother has vouched for him publicly. “There aren’t a lot of people who can carry a half hour on their own unscripted,” she told PEOPLE. “He has what it takes.” She framed the handoff as a question of timing: “Maybe eight years ago he wasn’t ready. He’s ready now.”
The two stay close off camera. Levy calls his mother a “tough cookie,” and when he is in town for filming he joins her for dinner in Connecticut. His own approach to the bench, he says, is plain: “Everyone has their chance to speak, but you better be able to back up your position.”
Naps, Family and an Animated Judge
“I have a lot of other things of interest,” Sheindlin said — and the list is refreshingly unglamorous for a woman who spent three decades on television: more time with family, and afternoon naps.
The production work continues. Beyond “Adam’s Law,” there is “Judyverse,” the animated project inspired by the AI-created clips that spread across social media. In them, a toddler version of Sheindlin runs a courtroom in a New York accent, firing off the sort of pointed remarks long associated with her adult counterpart.
Her public life has occasionally strayed outside the courtroom set. In 2024, Sheindlin endorsed Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and campaigned on her behalf. “I’m proud to endorse Nikki Haley because she is whip smart, has executive credentials and was a superb governor,” she said at the time. Haley answered: “Judge Judy is a no-nonsense lady who has earned the respect of millions of Americans from her courtroom by being thoughtful, fair, and honest. I’m honored to have her support.”
Before “Judy Justice” signs off, her career gets a formal send-off on network television. CBS is scheduled to broadcast “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable,” a 30th anniversary special revisiting her career and her cultural footprint across decades of daytime television, on Tuesday, September 22.
The changeover is a tidy one: one Sheindlin production premieres as another winds toward its finish, with the family name attached to both. The final episodes of “Judy Justice” arrive in October. “I don’t think that I’ve ever been this content before,” Sheindlin told PEOPLE.