Julia Cardi
The Detroit News
The chief judge of 36th District Court in Detroit has temporarily suspended the docket of one of its judges who put a teen girl in handcuffs and threatened her with jail when she dozed off during a field trip to his courtroom.
Judge Kenneth King came under scrutiny this week when a livestream on his courtroom’s YouTube page showed him berating a 15-year-old girl who fell asleep, making her change into jail scrubs and putting her in handcuffs. She had come to his courtroom with a group organized by the nonprofit the Greening of Detroit to watch proceedings and talk to King as part of the field trip.
“You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m putting you in the back, understood?” King tells her, according to video from the court’s YouTube page reported by WXYZ-TV. At another point he tells her, “One thing you’ll learn about my courtroom is that I am not a toy. I am not to be played with.”
The station has since reported the teen and her mother have not had a permanent place to stay recently, and her mother said that’s likely why her daughter was falling asleep.
King will undergo training to “address the underlying issues that contributed to this incident,” Chief Judge William McConico said in a statement Thursday. He added he cannot remove King from the bench, but the State Court Administrative Office has approved the temporary suspension of King’s docket and training mandate.
McConico’s statement said King’s actions don’t reflect the 36th District Court’s commitment to providing access to justice without intimidation or disrespect.
“We regularly and actively welcome students to observe and engage with the judicial process, aiming to provide valuable educational experiences and foster familiarity with the justice system. We sincerely hope that this incident does not undermine our longstanding relationships with local schools,” he said.
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