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Someone has a story.
Everyone has a side.
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Pick a story. Hear both sides.

29 cases on this docket

JMS-1042 / Roommates & neighborsVerdict entered

Judge me for taping a name on the chili my roommate still ate

I share a two-bedroom with June. We split groceries except for leftovers, which we agreed — in writing, on the fridge whiteboard — belong to whoever cooked them. Tuesday I made a pot of chili. I put it in the red container. I wrote JUNE DO NOT in grease pencil on the lid because last month she 'sampled' my dumplings into a full dinner. Wednesday I came home from a late shift and the container was in the sink, rinsed, with a sticky note: 'needed protein, will replace.' She replaced it with a can of Hormel and a bag of shredded cheddar. I bought a roll of painter's tape and wrote my name, the date, and 'this is not communal.' I made chili again. Thursday the container was empty. No note this time. I moved her oat milk to the porch for three hours so it got warm, then put it back. She noticed. She called me 'weaponizing dairy.' I said she called first.

Bench107 votes

HungVerdict entered

JMS-1043 / Weddings & parties4 days left

Judge me for sitting down at the wedding after the four-inch heel rule

My cousin sent a dress code PDF. Page two: 'all guests under 65 in heels no shorter than 4 inches for the ceremony and first dance.' I am 34. I have a fused ankle from a fall in 2019. I wrote her. She said 'flats photograph cheap' and offered a stool in the back row. I wore black block heels at 2 inches, the highest I can walk in, and sat for the vows. During the first dance the coordinator asked me to stand 'for the line.' I said no. I sat. A photographer cropped me out of the family picture. My aunt texted that I 'made the bride cry on her day' by being visible while seated. I left before cake. I sent a card and the registry amount. I did not post photos.

BenchIn deliberation91 votes

JMS-1046 / Work4 days left

Judge me for correcting my name on the slide after they presented my work

I built the deck. Twelve nights. My lead presented it to the client with their name in the footer on every slide. After the call I emailed the client, the lead, and our director a one-line note: 'For the record, I authored slides 3–18. Happy to walk through the model.' I did not use the word stolen. The lead told HR I 'undermined the room.' The client asked me to join the next call. I am now on a performance plan for 'communication tone.'

Bench78 votes

JMS-1105 / Roommates & neighborsVerdict entered

Judge me for chalking the bumper that keeps eating our spot?

The building has two visitor spaces. A gray sedan from 4B uses one overnight, every night, with a 'quick errand' note that has been fading since May. I asked the board. The board sent a polite PDF. Nothing moved. I chalked a small rectangle on their rear bumper: VISITOR. It rains off. I did it four times. On the fifth, they waited in the lobby. They said I vandalized a car over a parking feeling. I said the feeling has a license plate. I have not chalked since. The sedan is still there.

Bench81 votes

HungVerdict entered

JMS-1203 / Friends13 days left

Judge me for asking the group chat to stop tagging me in every restaurant poll?

There are fourteen people. Every Friday someone drops a poll with eleven pin-drops. I eat at 6 because of a class. I asked, once, to be left off the poll and told the plan after. They said I was 'not a team player about tacos.' I muted the thread. Someone screenshotted the mute.

Bench0 votes

JMS-1202 / Work12 days left

Judge me for declining the office birthday Venmo after three this month?

Three birthdays in eleven days. Suggested amount: twenty. I paid the first two. On the third I wrote a card and brought a peach. The organizer posted a tally in Slack with my name in red. I left the peach on the table and went back to my desk.

Bench0 votes

JMS-1201 / Roommates & neighbors4 days left

Judge me for putting a lock on the hall closet we both pay for?

The hall closet is in the lease as shared. My coats kept migrating to the floor. I bought a $12 hasp and a padlock. I left a key on their pillow with a note: your half is the left hook. They said a lock in a shared apartment is a declaration of war. I said the floor was the declaration.

BenchIn deliberation0 votes

JMS-1101 / Work10 days left

Judge me for correcting the slide after they presented my work?

I built the deck. Twelve slides, my charts, my weekend. On Tuesday, Rae presented it to the client as 'the team's work' and never said my name. After the call I sent a follow-up with the file attached and a line: charts by me, happy to walk through the method. Rae called it 'undermining the room.' My manager said I should have spoken up in the meeting, not in email. I did not want to interrupt a client. I wanted the record straight. The client replied all: thanks, these notes help. Rae has not looked at me in the kitchen since.

BenchIn deliberation22 votes

JMS-1102 / Roommates & neighbors3 days left

Judge me for taking the charger I bought from the shared bowl?

I bought a braided USB-C cable in March and put a tiny stitch of red thread on the plug so I would know it. It lived in the bowl by the couch because we said 'cables are communal.' In August I found my red thread on a cable that had been chewed, taped, and left in a roommate's backpack. I took it back. I bought a cheap black one for the bowl. I said the red one is mine again. They said once a cable enters the bowl it is of the house. I said the house ate mine.

Bench21 votes

JMS-1108 / Petty3 days left

Judge me for returning their plant after they killed mine?

I asked a neighbor to water my fern for nine days. I left a written schedule and a cup. I came home to a crisp. They said they 'thought ferns liked drought.' I said no. I did not yell. A month later they asked me to watch their pothos. I did. I watered it correctly. On day nine I walked it back down the hall and left it at their door with a note: alive, unlike mine. They called it a stunt. I called it a delivery.

BenchIn deliberation55 votes

JMS-1115 / Family & in-laws26 days left

Judge me for cropping my uncle out of the family photo we paid for?

We hired a photographer for my parents' anniversary. My uncle arrived late, argued with the photographer about 'real smiles,' and stood in the back row making a face in every frame. We paid. We got the gallery. I sent my parents a version with him cropped. I did not post it. I did not tell him. He saw my mother's print on the mantel and asked why he was a ghost. I said the frame was tight. He told the family I erased him. The photographer offered a reshoot I cannot afford.

Bench31 votes

JMS-1045 / Money3 days left

Judge me for putting twenty dollars in the group gift and walking out

Office collection for a manager's baby. The spreadsheet said 'suggested $40, let's do something nice.' I put in $20 because I am hourly and I have met this manager twice. The organizer posted a screenshot of the tracker in the team chat with my row in red and the caption 'don't be the reason the stroller is used.' I asked them to take it down. They said it was accountability. I transferred another $20 so the row would turn green, then I put a sticky note on the organizer's monitor: 'Do not screenshot me again.' I have not gone to the last two happy hours.

Bench24 votes

JMS-1047 / Petty3 days left

Judge me for ordering pineapple on the pizza I knew they hated

We have a Friday pizza rotation. Four people. One of them, Ren, has a speech about pineapple being a crime. Last week Ren ordered anchovies on a pie I had already said I would not touch, then ate the cheese one too. This week I was ordering. I got two pies: one plain, one half pineapple on the half Ren always reaches for first. I did not announce it. Ren took a bite, stood up, and dumped the slice in the trash. They have not spoken to me except through the chore app. I think this was a proportional experiment. They think I am twelve.

Bench29 votes

JMS-1103 / Work4 days left

Judge me for refusing the group gift spreadsheet at work?

Every birthday, someone opens a sheet. Suggested amount: $25. There are 31 people on the team. I have been here eleven months. I do not know half the names. I declined the last three sheets and brought a card I wrote myself for the people I actually eat lunch with. This week the organizer put a note in Slack: 'If you skip the sheet, skip the cake.' I skipped the cake. I ate a yogurt at my desk. Someone photographed the yogurt. I am tired of paying rent to a social calendar I did not vote on.

BenchIn deliberation68 votes

JMS-1107 / Weddings & parties4 days left

Judge me for asking the ex not to give a toast?

My brother is getting married. His best friend is my ex. They dated other people, it has been six years, everyone is 'fine.' The rehearsal dinner has an open-mic toast list. I asked my brother, not the ex, if the ex could skip speaking. I said I would sit through dinner, photos, dancing. I would like not to be narrated. My brother told the ex. The ex said I was rewriting history. The fiancee offered me a seat in the back. I said I will sit where family sits. I still do not want the toast. The list still has their name in pencil.

Bench66 votes

JMS-1109 / Money4 days left

Judge me for stopping the Venmo requests after the third 'oops'?

We split a cabin. I paid the deposit. I sent a request the night we booked. One person paid. Two sent 'oops' stickers. I waited. I sent a second request with the screenshot of the listing. One more 'oops.' I paid the rest so we would not lose the dates. After the trip I did not send a third request. I posted the itemized sheet in the chat and wrote: I am done chasing. If you want to settle, you know where I live on this app. One paid that night. One still has not. They say I made the weekend ugly on the last morning.

Bench60 votes

JMS-1113 / Friends4 days left

Judge me for selling the extra concert ticket instead of offering it?

Four of us bought tickets. One dropped out a week prior. I held the extra for two days and asked the group who wanted it at face. Silence. I listed it. It sold for $20 over face because the site adds fees I did not control. I offered the extra $20 to the group chat as a credit toward nachos. They said I should have waited until the day of, that a friend of a friend would have gone, and that profit on a friend's cancellation is ugly. I still have the $20 in Venmo as 'nachos.' No one has taken it.

Bench65 votes

JMS-1114 / WorkVerdict entered

Judge me for labeling my lunch after the third identical container?

Office fridge. I bring rice and chicken in a blue box. Three times this month the blue box came back empty at 2 p.m. I started writing my name in grease pencil. The fourth time, the box was empty and the name was wiped. I put a strip of tape: NOT COMMUNAL, NAME, DATE. I sent a polite message to the floor channel without naming anyone. Someone replied with a gif of a raccoon. I eat at my desk now. I would still like a ruling on the tape.

Bench63 votes

Not GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1049 / Friends4 days left

Judge me for uninviting a plus-one I have never met

I am throwing a 40-person birthday dinner. Headcount is the invoice. My friend asked to bring 'Sam from climbing.' I said the room is tight. They said Sam already bought a train ticket. I said I am sorry about the ticket. I did not add a chair. They posted in our group that I 'only love people I can seat.' Sam did not come. My friend came late, left early, and Venmo'd me $0 on a $62 prix fixe I had already covered as host. I would like to know if a ticket I did not authorize is my problem.

Bench63 votes

JMS-1111 / Love & exesVerdict entered

Judge me for ending a second date after they ranked my friends?

Second date, a diner. They asked who in my life was 'actually impressive.' I named a friend who teaches third grade. They said 'so not impressive.' I paid for my eggs. I left a five and a thank-you. I walked home. They texted that I could not take a joke and that ranking is how ambitious people talk. I did not reply. A week later they told a mutual I had 'stormed out of pancakes.' I did not storm. I stood up.

Bench83 votes

Not GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1116 / MoneyVerdict entered

Judge me for keeping the extra Uber after they fell asleep?

Three of us shared a car home. Two got out first. I was last. The third person fell asleep before their stop. The driver asked if we should wake them. I said no, take me, then circle back — I would pay the extra. I did. I woke them at my curb, walked them to their door two blocks over, and Venmo'd nothing extra to them because I had paid the detour. In the morning they said I kidnapped their night for convenience and that I should have woken them at their pin. I still have the receipt. It is $11 more than the original split.

Bench90 votes

BothVerdict entered

JMS-1031 / FriendsVerdict entered

Judge me for naming the group chat after the friend who never pays

Four of us eat out. One of us, Cal, forgets their wallet in a way that has lasted three years. I renamed our chat from 'Thursday' to 'Cal's IOU.' It was up for six hours. Someone screenshotted it into a different chat. Cal saw it. Cal paid their last three dinners in cash, in ones, on the table, without looking at me. The chat is called Thursday again. I am still the person who renamed it.

Bench96 votes

GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1106 / FriendsVerdict entered

Judge me for leaving the group chat after the oil pitch?

A college friend started selling drops. First it was a story. Then a voice note. Then a calendar invite called 'abundance hour.' I muted. They unmuted me in a side chat with three other people from the dorm and said I was 'blocking blessings.' I left the main group. I sent a private text: I love you, I will not buy this, please do not put me in a funnel. They posted a screenshot of my text, cropped to look colder, in the remaining chat. Two people DM'd me that I was harsh. I have not gone back.

Bench63 votes

Not GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1110 / Roommates & neighborsVerdict entered

Judge me for taping a degree mark on the thermostat we share?

I run cold. My roommate runs a furnace. We agreed on 68. The dial kept walking to 73 after I slept. I put a piece of painter's tape at 68 with the word DEAL. They peeled it. I put it back. They took a photo and sent it to a mutual friend as 'the temperature police.' I bought a cheap smart plug for my space heater and stopped touching the wall. The wall is at 73 again. I sleep in a hoodie. I would like a ruling on the tape, not the hoodie.

Bench73 votes

HungVerdict entered

JMS-1048 / Roommates & neighborsVerdict entered

Judge me for having their guest towed from my numbered space

I pay for space 12. The building painted the number last spring. My neighbor's sister parks there when she visits because 'it's only an hour' and because I work from home and 'you're not using it.' I left a note. I left a second note. I asked in the hallway. She shrugged. Saturday she blocked me in after I had already loaded a borrowed van. I called the number on the garage wall. They towed her. She is now $280 angry and my neighbor slipped a letter under my door about community. I have a photo of the painted 12. I also have a van I still needed that afternoon.

Bench83 votes

Not GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1104 / Family & in-laws13 days left

Judge me for vetoing a baby name that is also my ex's?

My sister is pregnant. She wants to name the baby Nico. That is the name of the person I dated for four years and do not speak to. I told her, once, privately, that I would flinch every holiday. I offered two other names I like. I did not make a speech at dinner. She told our mother I was 'claiming a word.' Our mother asked me to be bigger. I said I can be bigger in every other room. I cannot clap for that name on a cake. They are still deciding. I am the villain in a group text I was not added to, which I know because a cousin forwarded a screenshot.

BenchIn deliberation75 votes

JMS-1044 / Family & in-laws13 days left

Judge me for canceling Christmas after they called my turkey 'sad'

I have hosted Christmas Eve for six years. My in-laws arrive with a cooler of comments. This year my mother-in-law walked in, looked at the bird, and said, in front of my kids, 'Oh. We're doing sad turkey again.' My father-in-law laughed. My spouse said 'she's joking.' I finished the meal. I smiled. After they left I texted the family thread: I am not hosting in December. You are welcome to host. I will bring pie. They called me fragile. My spouse is sleeping in the guest room until I 'unsend the vibe.' I have not unsent it.

Bench88 votes

JMS-1112 / ParentingVerdict entered

Judge me for leaving the birthday at bedtime and taking the gift?

My five-year-old was done at 7:40. The invitation said 4 to 8. Cake was at 6. We sang. We ate. At 7:40 my child was on the floor in a coat. I said goodbyes. I took the goodie bag they had already handed us. The host texted that leaving before 8 'looked like we didn't want to be there' and that taking the bag was 'collecting and running.' I said a done child is done. I offered to mail a thank-you. I did not go back. Other parents stayed until the balloons looked tired.

Bench87 votes

Not GuiltyVerdict entered

JMS-1038 / Family & in-lawsVerdict entered

Judge me for giving my sister the cheap blender and keeping the good one

Our aunt died and left two blenders, a note, and no lawyer. The note said 'split the kitchen.' The Vitamix was the one we used at her house. The NutriBullet still had the sticker. I took the Vitamix because I cook. I gave my sister the NutriBullet and a check for $80, which is what a used one costs on the neighborhood board. She says I looted a death. I say I paid the difference and I am the one who makes soup.

Bench115 votes

BothVerdict entered

Judge the deed.
Leave room for the human.

Cases marked Bench are performed by our house troupe.