The Detroit judge who slapped handcuffs on a teen girl and forced her to wear jail clothes after she fell asleep during a field trip to his courtroom is being sued by the student and her family.
Judge Kenneth King was accused in the lawsuit filed in Michigan federal court Wednesday of violating 15-year-old Eva Goodman’s civil rights when he singled her out for falling asleep and having what he considered a bad attitude during her trip to the 36th District Court on Aug. 13.
King’s actions were “extreme and outrageous and calculated for the purpose of inflicting fear and severe emotional distress,” on the teen, according to the lawsuit, which seeks over $75,000.
While visiting the courthouse with the nonprofit group, The Greening of Detroit, Goodman fell asleep — angering King, who woke her and said, “You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m gonna put you in the back, understood?” footage of the incident shows.
When the teen apparently talked back, King ordered a court officer to place handcuffs on her and make her wear a jumpsuit.
The entire incident was broadcast on a live stream video from his courtroom. King then threatened the teen with juvenile detention in front of her peers before releasing her.
Goodman’s lawyers allege that he acted out of the scope of his judicial authority.
King “acted as producer, broadcaster, complaining witness, arresting officer, finder of fact, judge and disciplinarian,” attorneys Gary Felty Jr. and James Harrington said in the lawsuit.
The teen’s mother, Latoreya Till, said she may have been tired because the family does not currently have a permanent address.
Now, over a week later, Till says her daughter is still grappling with the humiliating and cruel punishment.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” Till said. “Eva doesn’t want to come outside. She doesn’t want to be involved with no one else but her family, relatives. It’s hard for her to sleep at night. She’s asking me, ‘Why the judge do me like this out of all the kids?’ ”
King initially defended the unusual punishment, saying he was trying to teach the girl a lesson about the legal system. He said he did not think he was overly strict.
“It wasn’t so much, in fact, that she had fallen asleep because I have attorneys that fall asleep sometimes, so that’s not too big of a deal. It was her whole attitude and her whole disposition that disturbed me,” he told WXYZ-TV.
With Post wires.
