The mother of a 15-year-old girl who fell asleep in a Detroit courtroom and ended up in a jail uniform and handcuffs has sued the judge who took her into custody, and her attorneys said Wednesday the judge’s actions were inappropriate.
The girl fell asleep while on a field trip Aug. 13 in Judge Kenneth King’s 36th District Court courtroom in Detroit and he yelled at her, said Fieger Law Firm attorney James Harrington. When she fell asleep for a second time, King humiliated her in front of her peers, and on YouTube where the court proceedings were livestreamed for anyone to see, Harrington said.
“This is a very troubling case. We had a member of our bench berate, humiliate and essentially incarcerate a 15-year-old kid,” Harrington said at a press conference Wednesday announcing the lawsuit. “This was very, very real to her, very, very scary to her and somebody in a position of trust, somebody that was in a position of authority and power is threatening her about jail time, is threatening her by literally placing her in handcuffs.”