Teen on field trip ends up in handcuffs and jail garb because judge didn't want to be 'played with'
A teenager sleeping during a field trip to a Detroit courtroom got a wake-up call from a judge Tuesday. (Image from Shutterstock)
A teenager sleeping during a field trip to a Detroit courtroom got a wake-up call from a judge Tuesday.
Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court in Michigan told the teen that he didn’t like her attitude, and he was not to be “played with.” By the end of the incident, the girl was in a jail uniform and handcuffs and subjected to a group vote on whether she should go to jail.
The Detroit Free Press, WXYZ and USA Today have coverage.
The incident in the 36th District courtroom was recorded on camera, but the video was later removed from YouTube.
Initial reports said the girl was 16 years old, but her parents and the the group sponsoring the field trip, the Greening of Detroit, said the girl was 15 years old, according to WXYZ.
In a statement, the group said the girl “was traumatized by the judge’s unnecessary disciplinary treatment and scolding.”
Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court in Michigan. (Photo from the 36th District Court website)
“Although the judge was trying to teach a lesson of respect, his methods were unacceptable. The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful,” the statement said.
King told the Detroit Free Press that he is also traumatized by the incident. He told WXYZ that he “wanted this to look and feel very real to her,” and it was “my own version of Scared Straight!”
“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,” King told WXYZ. “It was her whole attitude and her whole disposition that disturbed me.”
King had addressed the teen’s group for about 45 minutes between hearings, according to a review of the video by the Detroit Free Press. He interrupted his talk to walk over to the girl and scream, “Wake up!”
About 10 minutes later, he spoke with the teen again, telling her that she should “take a walk in the back to see where we keep our people who are disrespectful to the court.” The Detroit Free Press could not make out what else he said to the girl, but WXYZ said King told the girl that she should change into a jail uniform and sit in the lockup.
King told courtroom staffers to bring the girl back to his courtroom about two hours later, according to the Detroit Free Press. She had on handcuffs and was wearing a jumpsuit that had the words “Wayne County Jail” printed on the back of it.
“You sleep at home in your bed, not in court. And quite frankly, I don’t like your attitude,” King said. “I’m tempted to give her some days in jail, as a lesson.”
King asked a public defender in the courtroom to represent the teen. The lawyer said the girl had not slept well the night before and was tired and nervous.
King then asked the field trip audience for a vote on whether he should be lenient. The girl’s peers voted for leniency.
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