Girl, 16, Put in Handcuffs and Jail Uniform After Falling Asleep During Courtroom Field Trip

Mar. 15, 2025

Judge Kenneth King, left, and the 36th District Court building in Detroit, right.Photo:Todd McInturf /Detroit News via AP; Paul Sancya/AP

Todd McInturf /Detroit News via AP; Paul Sancya/AP

A Michigan judge allegedly had a teenager placed in handcuffs and don a jail uniform after falling asleep while visiting a local court.

The nonprofit organization hosted the field trip to help teach young people about the legal system, according toABC affiliate WXYZ. The kids were there to see a real trial in action and speak to a judge in person when the incident occurred.

“Would you want someone to treat your child like that?” Latoreya Hill, the mother of the teen, toldWXYZafter the incident. “Would you even treat your child like that?”

The judge “made her wear handcuffs and a jail uniform and yelled at her for falling asleep in his courtroom,” according to the spokesperson for The Greening of Detroit.

“You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m gonna put you in back, understood?” King said, per WXYZ. He also said at one point, “You sleep in bed at your home, not at court."

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In a video that has since been removed from YouTube, King also threatened to send the teen to a juvenile detention facility “as a lesson,” according to theDetroit Free Press. The judge had the teen’s peers vote on whether that should be her fate, but ultimately let her go, WXYZ reported.

“Was I really going to do that? Probably not. Could I have? Probably so,” King told the station. “But that’s not what I want to do to a kid who’s there on a field trip.”

The Greening of Detroit spokesperson said that “it is unfortunate” that King “chose to make an example of a 16-year-old girl in front of her peers. Although the Judge was trying to teach a lesson of respect, his methods were unacceptable,” they added.

“The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful,” the spokesperson explained.

King also told WXYZ he does not believe he was “heavy handed” with the teen. “I’ll do whatever it needs to be done to reach these kids and make sure that they don’t end up in front of me,” he said.

The teen’s mom has since removed her daughter from the summer program that hosted the field trip, according to WXYZ.

“In light of the 36th District Court’s temporary suspension of Judge Kenneth King, Wayne State University has reassigned two Fall 2024 courses to other instructors,” Roose said. “As a contracted part-time faculty member, Judge King has never had an ongoing faculty appointment. Since 2022, he has taught a total of five sections of courses between Wayne State’s Law School and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.”

King’s profile page on the educational institution’s website was removed on Friday morning,The Detroit Free Pressreported.

source: people.com