you are 18.
Is that correct?
>> No, 22.
>> Judge Judy: 22, and you get
Social Security benefits?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: For what?
>> Well, I have serious back
pain that I've had since I was
6.
>> Judge Judy: So you've been
getting Social Security benefits
since you were 6?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: How do you
support yourself?
>> I do producing.
>> Judge Judy: Producing what?
>> Music.
>> Judge Judy: For whom?
>> Well, I have a studio with my
uncle, right here.
>> Judge Judy: Do you play an
instrument?
>> Yeah, keyboard.
>> Judge Judy: How long have you
done that?
>> Well, I'm kind of new at it.
I'm still learning about it.
>> Judge Judy: Did somebody
teach you how to play the
keyboard?
>> Yeah, my uncle did, yeah.
>> Judge Judy: How long did he
teach you how to play keyboard?
>> It's been 3 years now.
>> Judge Judy: And what do you
do with it? Do you make records?
Do you perform someplace?
>> Well, I do it at my house
for right now.
>> Judge Judy: What do you mean
you "do it at your house?"
>> Well, it's like a home-based
studio.
>> Judge Judy: Do you make
records or recordings?
>> I mean -- Yeah, recordings.
>> Judge Judy: Do you sell them?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: To whom?
>> Online, iTunes and YouTube.
>> Judge Judy: Who manages the
business?
>> My uncle, me, and my
grandmother.
>> Judge Judy: Well, so you're a
young man, so why do you get
Disability?
>> It was something that my mom
kind of started.
>> Judge Judy: But you're not
disabled.
You work. You make music. You...
>> Right, don't know really.
>> Judge Judy: I mean, I'm just
asking you a question because
I'm curious about the way your
mind is working because you seem
like an honest young man.
Let's say your music took off,
and you were making decent
money, really decent money,
and you had this extra money
from Social Security, this extra
$850 a month that you've been
collecting since you were 6.
Would you still collect it?
You guess so?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: This is what
the case is about.
Do you know the defendant
for a long time? I don't know.
She has a child with somebody
that you know.
Anyway, you've known her for a
long time, and you needed a
place to stay for a while.
You moved in with her, and she
became your payee on your
Social Security.
Living with her didn't work out,
and it is your claim that she
kept a couple of months of your
Social Security benefits.
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: Your grandmother
had been your payee...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And then you
weren't getting along with your
grandmother, so you moved in
with her, took some time.
How many months did you live
with her, in total?
>> Seven months.
>> Judge Judy: And for how many
months did she collect
Social Security as your payee?
>> That time, 7 months.
>> Judge Judy: All 7 months?
Well, that's impossible because
if you moved in with her, you
would have had to have made
adjustments...
>> Oh, yeah.
It took, like, 2 months, yeah.
>> Judge Judy: So then,
she got no money, right?
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: So she got no
money for 2 months out of the
7 months?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And then when you
moved out, according to you,
she kept 2 months of payments?
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: And where did you
move back to?
>> My grandmother's house.
>> Judge Judy: That's where you
had been living?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Where you and
your grandmother and your uncle
are in business?
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Well, she didn't
get paid for 2 months to house
you, to feed you, to take care
of you.
Don't you think she should?
You don't know?
>> No. think
that I'm going to give you back
this money.
Those are the facts.
The facts are she kept either
1 or 2 months, and she says you
didn't pay 1 or 2 months when
you lived there.
You see, Mr. McLeod, the
government is soft-hearted.
The government wants to be able
to help people who can't work.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Even if they're
not of age to retire,
so then, you have
Social Security Disability.
Now, I don't know what prompted
your mother, when you were
6 years old, to get
Social Security Disability for
you.
Did you have surgery after you
were 6 years old on your back?
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of
surgery did you have?
>> It was back surgery,
it was spine.
>> Judge Judy: And you had that
when you were how old?
>> 6.
>> Judge Judy: 6?
>> That I can remember, correct.
>> Judge Judy: And then you
went back to school.
You recovered.
You went back to school?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Did you ever play
sports?
>> Yeah, basketball, but I
couldn't do it for too long.
>> Judge Judy: But you played
basketball?
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: And now you work
with your uncle and your
grandmother in a home-based
studio making music?
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: That's not what
Social Security Disability is
designed for, Mr. McLeod.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: It's not designed
for that.
It's designed for people who
cannot work, who cannot take
care of themselves.
That's what the government does,
and one of the reasons that the
resources of our government
are being tapped like this
is because people who can work
and do work, because
they've been collecting
Social Security Disability for
15 years still think it's okay!
"Well, they send it to me and I
take it!"
So your case is dismissed.
I'm done.