Detroit judge criticized after ordering teenagers to be handcuffed on school trip
A 16-year-old girl was handcuffed and put in a prison uniform by Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court. King says the girl had an “attitude” and he wanted to get through to her.
A sleepy teenage girl was handcuffed, dressed in a prison uniform and threatened with jail time during a trip to a Detroit judge’s courtroom, leaving her “traumatized.”
The 16-year-old girl and her classmates went to the 36th District Court on Tuesday to learn about the legal system. But instead, she and her parents say, Judge Kenneth King used “unnecessary discipline and verbal abuse.” King, who has been a judge on the court since 2006, had called an impromptu hearing for the girl because of her “behavior” and her constant falling asleep on the drive.
“If you fall asleep in my courtroom again, I’ll put you in the back,” King said. “I’m not someone to be trifled with.”
At the hearing, which was broadcast on the court’s YouTube channel, King suggested that the girl might need to spend time behind bars, at one point describing the violence that occurs in juvenile detention centers. King eventually allowed the girl to go home, but asked her classmates by a show of hands to decide whether she should spend time in jail.
The Detroit-based nonprofit that hosted the field trip criticized King’s behavior, saying, “Although the judge attempted to teach a lesson in respect, his methods were unacceptable.”
“The group of students should have simply been asked to leave the courtroom if he deemed them disrespectful,” Marissa Ebersole Wood, president of The Greening of Detroit, said in a statement. “We spoke with the student and her parents and the young lady was traumatized.”
King wanted discipline to “serve as a deterrent”
Although King’s actions seemed harsh, the judge told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that he was merely “trying to create a chilling effect.”
“I didn’t want to punish the young lady,” King said, adding that he too was traumatized by the hearing. “I wanted to make it clear to this child that this is not a joke, this is a very serious situation.”
King also said he had contacted the girl’s family and offered to mentor her, but had not received a response as of Wednesday.
“I’m still trying to get through to her: Come on, girl,” King told the Free Press.
“He should be removed from the bench”
King’s behavior has prompted many critics of the situation on social media, with some even calling for him to be removed from office.
“The boy was on a damn trip, not in court as a criminal,” posted one user on X.
Another asked: “Why are children going on field trips to a court? What happened to the science museum? The connection between school and prison is more obvious than ever.”
Another X-user, Daniel Federspiel, called King “disgusting” and a “bully” who likes to “scare little kids.”
Here are some more reactions on social media:
