Hot Bench

Crime & Punishment is a 2002 reality television, nontraditional court show spin-off of the Law & Order franchise. It premiered on NBC on Sunday, June 16, 2002, and ran through the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004.

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Explore the 1999 disappearance and murder of 18-year-old Baltimore County high school student Hae Min Lee, and the subsequent conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, a case brought to global attention by the hugely popular Serial podcast.

Sidelined after an accident, hotshot Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller restarts his career - and his trademark Lincoln - when he takes on a murder case.

All rise for the Honorable Judge Walsh, court is now in session. Watch Matt Walsh bring his iconic deadpan delivery of common sense solutions to real life litigants with actual petty grievances. Find humor in the judiciary process in this fresh take on the reality courtroom genre.

The People's Court is an American arbitration-based reality court show currently presided over by retired Florida State Circuit Court Judge Marilyn Milian. Milian, the show's longest-reigning arbiter, handles small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. The People's Court is the first court show to use binding arbitration, introducing the format into the genre in 1981. The system has been duplicated by most of the show's successors in the judicial genre. Moreover, The People's Court is the first popular, long-running reality in the judicial genre. It was preceded only by a few short-lived realities in the genre; these short-lived predecessors were only loosely related to judicial proceedings, except for one: Parole took footage from real-life courtrooms holding legal proceedings. Prior to The People's Court, the vast majority of TV courtroom shows used actors, and recreated or fictional cases. Among examples of these types of court shows include Famous Jury Trials and Your Witness. The People's Court has had two contrasting lives. The show's first life was presided over solely by former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wapner. His tenure lasted from the show's debut on September 14, 1981, until May 21, 1993, when the show was cancelled due to low ratings. This left the show with a total of 2,484 ½-hour episodes and 12 seasons. The show was taped in Los Angeles during its first life. After being cancelled, reruns aired until September 9, 1994.

All the emotion, drama and suspense of America's most memorable murder trials are captured. Produced by an Emmy-award winning team, each episode takes viewers through the criminal justice process, from the crime to the investigation to the courtroom testimony and finally, the verdict. It's a journey through the criminal justice process that gives viewers an inside look at real cases like never before.

Kagura Ran is a former child actor-turned-lawyer who left the legal circle after her best friend was framed of murder. A year later, an article written by scriptwriter Kurosawa Jin about her ends up circulating online in which she becomes acknowledged as a capable lawyer who has never lost a case. She decides to resume her work as a lawyer once more, and attempts to regain her trust in the law by joining forces with Kurosawa in order to exonerate her friend from the accusation and resolve the case once and for all.

A female judge encounters an old teacher who uses the letter of the law to his own advantage while she wields it as a weapon to protect those in need. Zuo Lin (Lv Jiarong) is a judge serving at the people's court in Mingzhou. While dealing with a real estate case in Yongjia, she butts heads with an unexpected opponent. He is Zheng Huaishan (Tan Kai), an old university teacher and a dear friend whom she hasn't seen in a long time. However, investigations lead them further astray and Zuo Lin has to make the choice of overcoming her personal feelings to uphold justice.

This series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.

Mulla Krekar was a danger to the Norwegian security, yet he lived in the country for 30 years. This documentary follows the hated mullah and his faithful lawyer from the beginning to the end of the case.

A tough judge balances her aversion to minor offenders with firm beliefs on justice and punishment as she tackles complex cases inside a juvenile court.

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. The show, produced by The Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove Productions, Viacom Productions and Paramount Television originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC; and from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC. The show's format is similar to that of CBS's Perry Mason, with Matlock identifying the perpetrators and then confronting them in dramatic courtroom scenes. One difference, however, was that whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury.

The Honorable Judy Sheindlin, retired Judge of the Manhattan family Court, brings her signature blend of sharp wit and wisdom, hilarious candor and unwavering honesty that has made her America’s favorite judge for over 25 years, as she presides over real cases, arbitrates binding decisions and delivers what only she can: “Judy Justice.”

A look inside one of the world's busiest local courts, Sydney's Downing Centre, and the drama that arises when people face the justice system.

Steve Harvey employs his own life experiences and some good old common sense as he expands his resume by taking on the roles of judge and jury in the courtroom. Harvey welcomes a variety of conflicts and characters to his courtroom -- from small claims to big disputes and everything in between -- where, playing by his own rules, he helps to settle his guests' cases with his own unique comedic flair.

A look at the personal and professional lives of the judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and cops who work at an L.A. County courthouse.

Das Strafgericht

Popular lawyer Anne-France Goldwater takes an honest look at real legal cases that are as unusual as they are hard to settle!

A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.