DETROIT – A teenage girl without a permanent home is suing a Detroit judge who took her into custody after she was forced to wear a prison uniform, handcuffed and plead for mercy after falling asleep in a courtroom.
Eva Goodman, 15, and her mother Central government sued against 36th District Judge Kenneth King on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Criminal Division of the State Court. They allege she violated the teenager’s civil rights, arguing King yelled at her when he detained her and overstepped his judicial authority when she was sentenced to prison.
“Common sense and the facts demonstrate that an adult man who was bullied by a young woman, who falsely concluded that he was a criminal, was in fact a vulnerable youth, forced to carefully confront past trauma during an actual pre-trial hearing that ended before closing during class,” the lawsuit said. says
Goodman and his mother, Latorea Dill, are represented by James Harrington and Gary Felty of Fieger Law. In addition to suing King, the family is suing private security services at the courthouse and two unidentified court officials in King’s courtroom.
“It was very devastating. Eva didn’t want to come out,” Till told a news conference. His daughter was at the law firm at the time of the incident, but declined to be interviewed.
“I want Judge King to be held accountable for the way he humiliated my daughter…I feel he owes her a public apology. Not only that, he owes more than a public apology.”
A Detroit judge has been temporarily removed from office
King did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. When he spoke to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today Network, last week, he defended his actions but acknowledged that a lawsuit could be forthcoming. They have also said that he is receiving death threats.
Chief Justice William McConigo King was temporarily suspended last weekend and told he would not return until he was trained. The Judicial Directory uses courts to decide which cases a judge will hear.
He described the exercise as “necessary exercise to address the underlying issues that contributed to this incident.”
King will also be paid during his absence from the bench. A 2023 Michigan Legislative Analysis He said district court judges earn $170,000 a year.
Wayne State University in Detroit also recently dropped King from two classes he was scheduled to teach in the fall.
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On August 13, Goodman visited King’s courtroom as part of a field trip with a nonprofit group. Dill said her daughter didn’t know about the trip beforehand and had never been in a courtroom before.
Goodman and his colleagues first looked at a trial involving a murder charge. Watching the case forced her to relive a traumatic event. Prosecutors declined to provide further details about the incident.
Between hearings, King spoke to the panel, and a video of his courtroom appearance was posted on YouTube and later removed. He took off his robe at one point and gave it to a young man sitting on the judge’s chair while the king spoke. King then noticed Goodman sleeping and yelled for her to wake up.
But seeing her sleeping again, he took her away.
Goodman later told his mother that staff told him to undress and put on prison clothes. According to the lawsuit, the teenager removed her hoodie but refused to remove her other clothing. Once she was in a green prison jumpsuit, she was placed in an isolated holding cell and handcuffed. Goodman told her mother there was a camera in the room and she was alone.
About two hours after she was taken away, King brought Goodman back to court. The video shows him standing up, yelling disrespectful behavior and asking if she should go to jail. King, a defense attorney representing Goodman, said the teenager was tired and didn’t understand the severity of the situation.
Goodman later told the Free Press that her daughter was tired because the family didn’t have a permanent place to stay and didn’t go to bed until late the night before King’s courtroom visit. King then asked Goodman’s colleagues if they should release her or send her to prison by raising their hands.
Amid nervous laughter, most agreed he should have calmed down, according to the video.
A case was filed for unconstitutionality
This case lists the alleged violations of constitutional rights. These include unreasonable searches and seizures, detention without due process, being compelled to provide evidence against herself, not having the opportunity to hire a lawyer of her choice, and protection from “extraordinary punishment.”
Harrington and Felty argue that King had no authority to detain Goodman, noting that he was never charged. The lawsuit alleges that King overstepped his authority by ignoring rules that dictate when and how a judge can use contempt powers, despite seeking to charge him with contempt of court.
Notably, the lawsuit indicates that King was not in the middle of any court proceedings when Goodman was arrested. King previously told the Free Press that court is in session any time he is in his courtroom. “(King) was acting as teacher, not as judge when (Goodman) nodded, and the court was not in session because no action was pending,” the lawsuit states.
Generally, judges have immunity that protects them from lawsuits arising directly from their actions on the bench. But Harrington argues that King’s conduct was beyond his scope as a judge.
“I can tell you with 100% certainty that there is zero immunity to what happened in the courtroom on this day,” Harrington said. “Eva is not a litigator. She is not a party. She is not a witness, she is not a lawyer, she is not a court official. She was there on a field trip.”
The same principle applies to the judicial officers referred to in the case. Harrington and Felty claim they acted improperly by complying with additional judicial orders.
The suit also alleges King improperly forced Goodman to reveal his name, age and other personal information during an online broadcast.
The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 for each of the eight alleged violations.
Reach Dave Boucher at [email protected] and X @Dave_Boucher1.
