I can't even count the number of times
our daughter has been
in trouble with the law.
She gets in trouble,
the most that happens to her,
they lock her up for 21 days
and they set a trial date.
She knows they're not gonna do anything to her.
I can do what I want as I want,
how I please, 'cause it is my life
and at the end of the day I have
to face the consequences
that nobody else does.
I think Sadara feels
that she's above the law.
I don't know who or what it will
take to let her know
that she's playing with fire.
Retired Macomb County Michigan circuit judge,
Maryann Schenowski
is also known as scary Mary.
I've heard her.
She is known as scary Mary
for a reason.
She has dealt with the toughest
criminals in her courtroom
and she has seen it all.
Take a look.
What makes me different
than any other judge?
I'm very blunt.
You want the truth, go ask Judge Mary.
It doesn't work that way.
Not in this courtroom.
Stop with the litany
of things you've been doing
and that includes you Mom.
You're not gonna like it sometime,
but that's just who I am.
The people standing in front of me
started their drug use whether
it be simply by smoking marijuana
or they became addicted to prescription drugs.
And then here they are,
standing in front of a circuit judge.
Possession of cocaine,
possession of heroin,
and then you steal to feed that addiction.
And I understand what
you're going through
because I am an alcoholic.
I nearly killed my mother
in a an auto accident.
She had probably over 50, 60 stitches across
her forehead and I had to see
that scar every day
of my life all the way
until the time when she was in her casket.
That is something that I'll never forget.
I stopped drinking
when my Mom died.
It was time for me to take control
of my own life and help other people.
It will be 15 years of sobriety for me.
I don't want to put you in prison.
I want you to be a good person
and enjoy life.
If you didn't help yourself,
I had to lower the gavel.
And that's when I became tough.
If you want my help,
you've gotta be honest with me.
So who is gonna win this.
I am gonna win.
(audience applauding)
Retired Macomb County Michigan Circuit
Judge Maryanne Shenowski is joining us now.
Scary Mary.
Ah, I asked you to be here
for a reason.
I care why
she is doing what she is doing.
But she is turning 16
and very soon
she's going to come against somebody
that doesn't care why
they only care what she is doing.
What's ahead for her
if she stays on this current route?
You know that juvenile detention center
that she hated so much.
That was a country club.
And now young lady
the next crime you commit
and I'm hoping it doesn't happen,
you're a big girl now, I'm 16
you're gonna end up in the county jail when
you commit a crime.
You're gonna be in a room
with a pool of people.
Vomiting, going through withdrawals.
Defecating on the floor, peeing on the floor.
You're gonna have women yelling
at you if the crime is serious enough,
then you're go to the state prison system.
You know the most impressive thing I read
about you was the fact
that you want to be a nurse.
Oh my gosh, that's great!
I need you, Dr. Phil needs you, we all are gonna
need you at some point.
How are you gonna get there?
I want you to get that license
but you're not gonna get
it with a felony.
Well judge when that next crime happens,
and she's got some pending now,
I mean, this could go bad in a hurry.
But when that big hammer drops
you're not gonna be able to find
those friends with both hands.
Oh no.
'Cause they're gonna scatter like rats
when you turn the lights on.
And they're gonna be gone and then she's going
to big girl jail and then she's gone for 10 years.
Yes.
And you come out of there a whole lot different
than you go in.
Absolutely.
And what we're trying to do it tell you
that needs to change right now
and I'm talking to you
'cause the only person you control is you.
I want to change myself,
I just don't know
how 'cause I've gone
so far down this path.
I know it starts off
not doing that stuff
but it's also trying to get away
from just the life in general and finding
out how to care again.
'Cause I'm so lost.
You'll go right back
to the life as soon as you have a chance.
You have a cell phone
and you'll get a hold
of these people every chance that you get.
I don't know what else to do.
You do what we tell you to do.
It's not like that because you don't.
You get away from it.
We're trying to help you Sadara.
You're not supportive, you're not.
Then why do you call me
and talk to me and try
to tell me what's wrong
instead of Mom?
Because I want a relationship
with you that's why you think
that I'm trying to push you away.
Obviously I'm not
when I'm still calling you.
You tell me things that you don't tell
your Mom because you want to hear
what I think and I tell you
because I know, I've been there.
That's when you need to hone in on what
she's telling you.
She has straight up told you exactly
What she needs-- Yeah.
And exactly how she feels.
And you won't give it to me.
It goes right over your head.