Teen falling asleep on courtroom field trip sent to jail

DETROIT –

A teenager on a field trip to see a Detroit court ended up in jail clothes and handcuffs because a judge said he didn’t like her attitude.

Judge Kenneth King even asked other kids in the courtroom Tuesday whether the 16-year-old girl should be taken to juvenile detention, WXYZ-TV reported.

King, who works at 36th District Court, defended his actions.

“I wanted this to look and feel very real to her, even though there’s probably no real chance of me putting her in jail. That was my own version of ‘Scared Straight,’” King said, referring to a documentary about teen offenders in New Jersey.

The teen was seeing King’s court as part of a visit organized by The Greening of Detroit, a nonprofit environmental group. During the visit, King noticed the girl falling asleep, WXYZ reported.

“You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m gonna put you in back, understood?” the judge said, according to video of his remarks.

King then had the girl change into jail clothes and wear handcuffs.

“It was her whole attitude and her whole disposition that disturbed me,” the judge told WXYZ. “I wanted to get through to her, show how serious this is and how you are to conduct yourself inside of a courtroom.”

King also threatened her with time in juvenile detention before releasing her.

“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 judge said.

The Greening of Detroit released a statement, saying the “young lady was traumatized.”

“Although the judge was trying to teach a lesson of respect, his methods were unacceptable,” chairperson Marissa Ebersole Wood said. “The group of students should have been simply asked to leave the courtroom if he thought they were disrespectful.”

There was no immediate response to a message seeking comment Wednesday from King. The court’s chief judge, William McConico, was away and unavailable for comment, his office said.

“There were so many other ways in which to have helped that young girl learn,” said Larry Dubin, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy law school.

King told WXYZ that he spoke to the girl’s parents and offered to be a mentor.