Teen Files Lawsuit After Falling Asleep in Courtroom School Field Trip
A Michigan teen and her mother have filed a lawsuit against Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court after he issued a theatrical arrest of a teen during a field trip she took with her work-study group this summer. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday, Aug. 21, in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to the lawsuit, on August 13, the 16-year-old girl was on a field trip with her program mates and attended a lecture that was presented by Judge King in his courtroom. The lecture was also live-streamed on the courtroom’s YouTube channel. During the lecture, the teen began to nod off, causing the judge to initiate a series of events that left the teen feeling berated and humiliated.
On the day of the field trip, the group witnessed a real homicide trial play out. After the trial, the lawsuit says King’s role shifted from judge to teacher. As he was giving his lecture, the teen nodded off, to which King “publicly berated and humiliated” her both in front of her peers and unknown viewers on the live stream. After the teen apologized, the judge moved on with his lecture. When the teen nodded off again, King redirected attention back to her, and suggested that “perhaps she needed to go to the restroom and get a drink of water.” The lawsuit adds that the judge told the teen “to go relieve herself because of what he had in store for her.”
When the teen came back, a court officer redirected the teen as she attempted to reenter the viewing gallery. Instead, she was redirected to sit on the court bench, was treated as a real defendant, and was escorted to a detention cell. Moments later, the judge allegedly called the court into session and called his first case. He brought the teen forward, had her handcuffed, moved into a different jail cell, and ordered her to strip into a jail suit. When the teen complied with only removing her sweater, she was allowed to put the jumpsuit over her clothing.
The teen was then allegedly handcuffed again after she put on the jumpsuit and was transported to a holding cell where she would remain for several hours. As the field trip was nearing an end, the teen was brought back out to the court where a fake trial began in front of the judge, her peers, and viewers on the live stream.
The lawsuit details that the judge went as far as including a “random private attorney to pose as counsel” for the teen. During the fake trial, King asked the teen’s classmates to stand as a jury to determine the fate of the teen. Her classmates were made to consider the question of whether they should let the teen go home to her mother and grandmother or whether she should be sent to the juvenile jail.
The lawsuit recognizes that King was not going to send the teen to jail as there was no actual case, but rather, the judge decided to use his YouTube platform and his position as a judge to create his own version of the show “Scared Straight “because he wanted to teach the teen “a lesson for disrespecting him.”
In an interview with local outlet 7 News Detroit, King defended his actions saying, "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.” King added, "I wanted to get through to her, show how serious this is and how you are to conduct yourself inside of a courtroom."
He went on to say, "Was I really going to do that? Probably not. Could I have? Probably so. But that's not what I want to do to a kid who's there on a field trip. Do I think I was heavy-handed in what I did? No, I don't. Because I'll do whatever needs to be done to reach these kids and make sure that they don't end up in front of me."
The teen and her family say otherwise. The teen’s mom, Latoreya Hill, argues in the lawsuit that the teen went on this field trip without proper permission. The teen was part of a workforce program that planted trees in the community. On the day the teen arrived to plant trees with her classmates, she was told they would be going on a trip to view a court proceeding. While the field trip was intended for students who wanted to become lawyers, the teen had no intentions of becoming a lawyer and wanted to pursue a career in medicine instead.
In addition to not having any interest in a trip she was forced to join, the teen had not had a good night's rest the day before. The family’s lawyer shared that the teen was a good student with the goal of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon. However, after she was humiliated during the livestream, “Who knows how many people saw her be portrayed as a juvenile delinquent.”
The teen and her mother are seeking damages in excess of $75,000 and say that the judge and other officials with the court are liable for malicious prosecution, unlawful arrest and incarceration, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false arrest and imprisonment, unlawful seizure and detention, and invasion of privacy.
