Detroit judge charged after putting teen in handcuffs and jail clothes during field trip

DETROIT (AP) — Lawyers for a teenager who was sentenced to prison clothes and handcuffs during a field trip to a Detroit courthouse on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against a judge, accusing him of humiliation, false arrest and unlawful detention.

It’s the latest fallout since Judge Kenneth King cited 15-year-old Eva Goodman for falling asleep and having what he said was poor posture during her Aug. 13 visit to the 36th District Court.

King was removed from the courtroom last week until he completes training, which has not yet begun.

His actions were “extreme and outrageous and calculated with the intent to cause fear and severe emotional distress,” according to the lawsuit, which seeks more than $75,000.

Goodman was on a field trip led by a nonprofit group, The Greening of Detroit, when she fell asleep. Her mother later said she may have been tired because they had no permanent address.

King said it was her attitude that led to the prison garb, handcuffs and stern words — all broadcast on livestream video from his courtroom. He also threatened her with juvenile detention in front of her peers before releasing her.

King “acted as producer, host, complaining witness, arresting officer, finder of facts, judge and disciplinarian,” attorneys Gary Felty Jr. said. and James Harrington in the lawsuit.

A message seeking comment from King’s attorney was not immediately returned Wednesday.

“I wanted this to look and feel very real to her, even though there’s probably no real chance that I would put her in jail,” King told a TV station last week.

The teen’s mother, Latoreya Till, called the judge a “big bully.”

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