Adam Levy, the son of television icon Judge Judy Sheindlin and a former district attorney in upstate New York, has asserted that he could fix Los Angeles in just one month if elected mayor, offering a sharp critique of the city's leadership on crime, homelessness, and public safety. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Levy outlined a detailed plan that he believes would rapidly transform the city, which has faced intense scrutiny following devastating wildfires and a contentious mayoral primary.
Levy, who now hosts the syndicated courtroom show "Adam's Law," argued that Los Angeles needs a fundamental overhaul rather than incremental changes. He dismissed the recent mayoral election, in which incumbent Karen Bass faced a challenge from former reality star Spencer Pratt, as insufficient to address the city's deep-seated problems. Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades fires, campaigned on Bass's response to the wildfires and on combating crime and homelessness, but failed to advance past the June primary.
"I would have to get rid of a lot of people, but I could fix it in a month," Levy said. He emphasized that the mayor must work closely with the district attorney and police chief to shift priorities. "You will have 100% support from the mayor's office in focusing your attention on repeat offenders, violent offenders," he explained. For first-time offenders, Levy proposed an alternative program: community service that, if completed successfully, would wipe the crime from their record. Failure to complete the service would lead to prosecution, with the offense remaining on their record and affecting their access to housing, benefits, and jobs.
Levy criticized judges who, in his view, act more like social workers than enforcers of the law. "As DA, I absolutely would focus my prosecutor's attention on the repeat offenders, on the violent offenders," he said. "And as the mayor, you've got to appoint judges that have that same mindset. You've got to stop appointing judges that really want to be social workers." During his tenure as a Republican DA in a county in upstate New York, Levy said he worked effectively with both parties because they agreed that keeping families safe was the top priority. He contrasted this with major cities like Los Angeles and New York, which he claimed have "lost their way."
"When I ran for DA, I made it very clear: 'You vote for me, and I promise to protect your family the same way I would protect my own,'" Levy recalled. "They don't do that in LA. They don't do that in New York. They don't do that in certain cities that have lost their way. And it's the politicians, unfortunately, that get to go back to their homes and good neighborhoods behind gates, where these repeat criminal offenders are not being released back into. That's the problem, and it really is infuriating."
Mayor Bass has pushed back against the characterization of Los Angeles as a danger zone. In a statement to LAist in February, Bass said, "L.A. is safer than it's been in decades, including declines in violent crime for the last two years and homicides at a 60-year low." She added, "We will be even safer when ICE is out of Los Angeles." Data from the Los Angeles Police Department shows that in 2025, the homicide rate was 5.9 per 100,000 residents, the lowest since 1959. Los Angeles also has fewer homicides than Washington, D.C., when adjusted for population.
Levy drew a parallel to New York City in the 1990s, when Rudy Giuliani, then a Republican mayor, implemented the "broken windows" policing strategy, which focused on strictly enforcing minor offenses to reduce overall crime. Despite Giuliani's controversial legacy, Levy praised his effectiveness. "Because New York City became so terrible, so dangerous, so dirty, so stinky, no one wanted to be here anymore," Levy said. "And people finally got fed up – Democrats finally got fed up. It'll happen too in LA — it's just a matter of how bad is it going to get before the people wake up and start electing adults in the room."
During Giuliani's term, violent crime in New York City declined by more than 56 percent, compared to about 28 percent nationally, while property crimes fell by about 65 percent, compared to 26 percent nationally, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Levy credited this to Giuliani and his police chiefs being "on the same page." He argued that Giuliani cleaned up the city, paving the way for Mayor Michael Bloomberg to attract businesses. "I remember what New York City was like in the '70s and in the '80s. It was a s--hole," Levy added. "And he came in, and he cleaned it up. He cleaned it up for Bloomberg, who then brought the businesses in. You couldn't have Bloomberg without Giuliani. He got rid of the panhandlers, the aggressive panhandlers, the homelessness, people taking craps on the street, the garbage."
Levy's new show, "Adam's Law," produced by CBS Media Ventures and Judy Sheindlin's Queen Bee Productions, is set to premiere in national syndication on September 14. The show marks Levy's latest foray into television, following his mother's footsteps in the courtroom genre. Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Bass's office for comment on Levy's proposals.
