Judge (or street judge) is a title held by several significant characters in Judge Dredd and other series which appear in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine. In the fictional future history of the series, the role of "Judge" combines those of judge, jury and police officer, thus avoiding long legal wrangles by allowing for criminals to be tried and sentenced on the spot. Since they overthrew the U.S. Constitution in 2070, Judges have also held supreme political power in Mega-City One. Collectively they are known as the Justice Department. Overview In the comic strip, Judges are the product of many (normally 15) years' of training and psychological conditioning. Training, which takes place in the Academy of Law, generally begins at age five. The Judges recruit promising children, and grow their own clones. Judge Dredd is himself a clone of the Judges' founder, Chief Judge Fargo. Their standard issue firearm is the Lawgiver handgun, which can fire six different kinds of ammunition. It has a handprint-reading sensor which only allows its owner to use it, and a self-destruct device to kill or maim unauthorised users. Judges ride Lawmaster bikes, which are heavily armed and have artificial intelligence. The Judges themselves are not above the law – a violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso[lation]-Cube may earn a Judge a twenty-year sentence of hard labour on Saturn's moon, Titan, after surgical modification to enable the convict to survive Titan's atmosphere. They were also expected to live in celibacy, to avoid personal attachments that might bias them or make them vulnerable to manipulation and blackmail. For most of the strip's history, the Judges are led by a Chief Judge and a Council of Five. The Judges have their own domestic intelligence division (the Public Surveillance Unit), and their own medical facilities. There are a number of specialist divisions within the Judges, notably Psi Division, which consists of psychic judges used to predict the future and read minds, and Tek Division, made of forensic scientists and engineers. The SJS (Special Judicial Squad) monitors and polices the Judges internally. The majority of Judges reside and spend their limited free time in their sector houses. However, they have the right to own personal property or live in private residences. Dredd himself for much of the early years lived in an apartment in Rowdy Yates block and upon