{"id":120552,"date":"2025-05-27T16:03:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T00:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/27\/judge-who-handcuffed-and-harassed-field-trip-student-for-sleeping-could-face-consequences\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:03:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T00:03:23","slug":"judge-who-handcuffed-and-harassed-field-trip-student-for-sleeping-could-face-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/05\/27\/judge-who-handcuffed-and-harassed-field-trip-student-for-sleeping-could-face-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Who Handcuffed And Harassed Field Trip Student For Sleeping Could Face Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the challenges that comes with teaching high school students is classroom management. Imagine a student falls asleep while you\u2019re trying to wow them with your wisdom about career choices. How do you handle it? Do you: <\/p>\n

a) Let them catch some Zs and check in on their well being after class?<\/p>\n

b) Tactfully get a student next to them to nudge them awake?<\/p>\n

c) Have everyone in the room start clapping to see if they wake up and join in the applause?<\/p>\n

d) Realize that this is the acting opportunity you\u2019ve been waiting for and make the most of it by handcuffing said student, making them change into a prisoner\u2019s jumper, and appoint some nearby lawyer to play as their counsel on your ersatz version of \u201cScared Straight\u201d?<\/p>\n

If you answered A or B, good on you. C isn\u2019t the best answer, but it is funny. If you answered D, you\u2019re probably District Judge Kenneth King. That actually happened, by the way<\/a>. Judge King may have had the expectation that judicial immunity would bless his theatrics at the back of his mind, but it looks like that excuse may exit stage left. Law360<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson said that while judicial immunity is broad, the teen \u2014 identified as ELG in the order \u2014 has pled enough facts to potentially support that 36th District Judge Kenneth King\u2019s actions of having her arrested and put through a livestreamed mock trial in front of her peers occurred when court wasn\u2019t in session and when he wasn\u2019t performing a judicial role.<\/p>\n

Judge Lawson said that while it could be determined Judge King was performing a function of a judge when he \u201creconvened his court to discipline ELG\u201d for falling asleep during his lecture \u2014 the teen was in court as part of a field trip \u2014 the most recent complaint\u2019s allegations could support another conclusion: \u201cthat Judge King was retaliating against an adolescent who had the temerity to doze during his recounting of his career, using his courtroom as a prop for his own devices.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Judge King\u2019s artistic and punitive pursuits may ultimately be protected by judicial immunity, but let\u2019s hope not. We\u2019ve already seen enough stories of judges handcuffing children to make unnecessary points about discipline<\/a> \u2014 who knows how many more tired children Judge King will handcuff and share on YouTube if no one has the common sense to decide that that isn\u2019t judge-like behavior. Thankfully, Judge Lawson has already made some key points of departure from normal judicial duties in this fact pattern:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe judicial function, as traditionally understood, does not include teaching, much less disciplining students who appear before a judge in a didactic relationship,\u201d Judge Lawson said. \u201cAnd the fact that Judge King allegedly commented to the media that ELG required his \u2018mentorship\u2019 suggests that he understood his actions to be non-judicial in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To think \u2014 all of this could have been avoided if Judge King put aside his ego and let a kid nap. <\/p>\n

Detroit Judge Can\u2019t Yet Invoke Immunity Over Teen\u2019s Mock Trial <\/a>[Law360]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Okay, Judges Really Need To Stop Putting Innocent Kids In Handcuffs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Judge Who Handcuffed And Harassed Field Trip Student For Sleeping Could Face Consequences<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the challenges that comes with teaching high school students is classroom management. Imagine a student falls asleep while you\u2019re trying to wow them with your wisdom about career choices. How do you handle it? Do you: <\/p>\n

a) Let them catch some Zs and check in on their well being after class?<\/p>\n

b) Tactfully get a student next to them to nudge them awake?<\/p>\n

c) Have everyone in the room start clapping to see if they wake up and join in the applause?<\/p>\n

d) Realize that this is the acting opportunity you\u2019ve been waiting for and make the most of it by handcuffing said student, making them change into a prisoner\u2019s jumper, and appoint some nearby lawyer to play as their counsel on your ersatz version of \u201cScared Straight\u201d?<\/p>\n

If you answered A or B, good on you. C isn\u2019t the best answer, but it is funny. If you answered D, you\u2019re probably District Judge Kenneth King. That actually happened, by the way<\/a>. Judge King may have had the expectation that judicial immunity would bless his theatrics at the back of his mind, but it looks like that excuse may exit stage left. Law360<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson said that while judicial immunity is broad, the teen \u2014 identified as ELG in the order \u2014 has pled enough facts to potentially support that 36th District Judge Kenneth King\u2019s actions of having her arrested and put through a livestreamed mock trial in front of her peers occurred when court wasn\u2019t in session and when he wasn\u2019t performing a judicial role.<\/p>\n

Judge Lawson said that while it could be determined Judge King was performing a function of a judge when he \u201creconvened his court to discipline ELG\u201d for falling asleep during his lecture \u2014 the teen was in court as part of a field trip \u2014 the most recent complaint\u2019s allegations could support another conclusion: \u201cthat Judge King was retaliating against an adolescent who had the temerity to doze during his recounting of his career, using his courtroom as a prop for his own devices.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Judge King\u2019s artistic and punitive pursuits may ultimately be protected by judicial immunity, but let\u2019s hope not. We\u2019ve already seen enough stories of judges handcuffing children to make unnecessary points about discipline<\/a> \u2014 who knows how many more tired children Judge King will handcuff and share on YouTube if no one has the common sense to decide that that isn\u2019t judge-like behavior. Thankfully, Judge Lawson has already made some key points of departure from normal judicial duties in this fact pattern:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe judicial function, as traditionally understood, does not include teaching, much less disciplining students who appear before a judge in a didactic relationship,\u201d Judge Lawson said. \u201cAnd the fact that Judge King allegedly commented to the media that ELG required his \u2018mentorship\u2019 suggests that he understood his actions to be non-judicial in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To think \u2014 all of this could have been avoided if Judge King put aside his ego and let a kid nap. <\/p>\n

Detroit Judge Can\u2019t Yet Invoke Immunity Over Teen\u2019s Mock Trial <\/a>[Law360]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Okay, Judges Really Need To Stop Putting Innocent Kids In Handcuffs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a>. \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the challenges that comes with teaching high school students is classroom management. Imagine a student falls asleep while you\u2019re trying to wow them with your wisdom about career choices. How do you handle it? Do you: a) Let them catch some Zs and check in on their well being after class? b) Tactfully […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":120553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Williams-620x620-GjIH5t.jpeg?fit=620%2C620&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}