Judge faces lawsuit after forcing student to put on jail garments and handcuffs and enter isolated holding cell
A Detroit judge who briefly detained a teenage girl who fell asleep in his courtroom during a school field trip to learn about the justice system was demoted to presiding over traffic court as he faces a federal lawsuit.
Judge Kenneth King was moved to the state court’s traffic division after the incident on 13 August. King was temporarily removed from the bench as he completed mandatory training following his actions.
“We appreciate his efforts in preparing for this role, and wish him success as he transitions into this new responsibility,” said the chief judge, William McConico, in a statement.
The bigger picture here is that he had an active YouTube livestream with roughly a 1000 fans that he used to interact with while in cases over the last few years. He even repositioned the cameras for them while he was harrasing that poor girl.
Its clear that his treatment of her was not only an ego trip, but one done for views.
What in the fuck? I’m surprised they even let cameras in the courtroom, let alone let the judge be a streamer!
I can see a certain angle where it makes sense: youth/general outreach, educating people about the court system. Something a little more interactive/entertaining than CSPAN, but more real than Judge Judy.
But you throw “influencer culture” into the mix and you’ve got a disastrous recipe for The Chat influencing the outcome of cases.
The only way I could see it potentially working is if there’s like a team who handles the whole thing.
Maybe there’s one or two cameras, one facing the courtroom and the other facing the judge. The judge doesn’t see any screens of any kind, and doesn’t have access to a keyboard or anything to interact with a chat, if there even is one; ideally there would be no chat and it would just be a stream you watch. If there is a chat, someone else should be handling it and possibly not even in the same room.
They are public places with public proceedings. For the most part, you can just go in and sit down and watch a case, assuming there is space.
My local court house makes all non-lawyers leave their phones in their cars. You can watch all you want, but only with your eyes. They won’t let you through the metal detector with a phone.
streaming is actually not that unheard of.
https://youtube.com/@honjcedricsimpsonlivefeed4076
https://youtube.com/@highcourtofmeghalaya
King is facing a federal lawsuit filed by Eva Goodman, 15, and her mother, Latoreya Till, after Goodman was forced to put on jail garments, handcuffed and put in an isolated holding cell during an educational trip to King’s courtroom.
The trip certainly was educational, though probably not in the way the school intended.
I was so, so waiting for consequences to finally reach this asshole. Reminder that this teenage student and her family *were experiencing homelessness and was apparently exhausted trying to meet all her responsibilities! She needed an advocate, not a bully. This is the type of person that demands respect from you, while not valuing you as a human, beyond considering what you can do for him. I hope he endures excruciating traffic cases until he is removed from the bench…
EDIT: Changed to people-first language.
She was homeless, not ✨ unhoused ✨. Stop trying to minimise other people’s suffering
I sure everyone understood what was meant by that. Stop creating an issue over nothing.
“Unhoused” is callous and “homeless” is not?
While others are downvoting you for missing the point (possibly because I was already attempting to consider them with empathy and dignity), I probably should have actually said “person experiencing homelessness”, and have edited it as such.
In 2020, an entry on homelessness was added to The Associated Press Stylebook noting how “Homeless is generally acceptable as an adjective to describe people without a fixed residence” and that reporters should use person-first language to "avoid the dehumanizing collective noun the homeless, instead using constructions like homeless people, people without housing or people without homes.”
Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were a Associated press reporter. My bad 😔
Good. Powertrip consequences.
Demoted for illegally kidnapping a child. Wild. Better than nothing I guess.
He’s an elected judge. I don’t know Michigan’s laws but there might not be much more that can be done by the court administration themselves. I personally also took Chief Judge McConico’s statement as a tactful ‘fuck you’ to Judge King.
Yep. Everyone wants blood but can’t get past the fact that there are laws and procedures.
Innocent until proven guilty in matters of law, for better AND for worse.
