The teen girl without a permanent home who was forced to don jail garb, wear handcuffs and ask for mercy after falling asleep in a courtroom is suing the Detroit judge who had her taken into custody.

Eva Goodman, 15, and her mother filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan against 36th District Judge Kenneth King. They allege he violated the teen’s civil rights, arguing King acted outside the scope of his judicial authority when he detained her, yelled at her and threatened her with jail time.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    That judge should clearly have been removed from the bench, instead of just being asked to attend some sort of behavior class with pay. The usual slap on the wrist with a feather for the privileged.
    He clearly lacks a sense of scope, and limitation to his powers. And apparently has extreme views on punishment for nothing burgers that aren’t even illegal. He also has a complete lack of empathy and understanding how strongly punishment can influence a person, especially a young person, and especially a person being punished harshly despite doing no harm.
    He is completely unfit to be a judge.

    I hope the girl wins her lawsuit, and the judge will receive some true punishment through that.

    • forrcaho@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      … and his past cases need to be reviewed. Is someone serving 10x the usual jail sentence for some infraction because of this judge? Probably.

      • Poayjay@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Whenever I hear about a shitty judge, DA, or cop that’s where my mind jumps immediately. Once one of these people have their judgment or integrity called into question, every case they had any involvement in should also be questioned.

        • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          Fuck that would be nice to have a review department who’s sole purpose is to go over the past history once something is triggered like this. Could even supply it by not buying so many hand-me-downs from the military to further fuel the MIC (military industrial complex), which I’ve never once heard a conservative discussion bringing up the cost/effectiveness of a tank in a small county. I guess a better tag-line would’ve been “Funds for Justice” during the protests.

  • einlander@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    She was on a field trip and not scheduled to be in court. He just reached out into the crowd and just sent her to jail because his feelings were hurt.

    • Snot Flickerman
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      2 months ago

      Judges are always soft bitches when people don’t treat them better than the average person for wearing fucking bathrobes in public.

      Guess what judges, you’re a naked loser underneath those robes, just like the rest of us, you sad soft pieces of shit.

  • Artemis@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    This girl is also temporarily homeless, which is why she was so tired. Adds a whole extra level to this…

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    From one of the linked articles:

    “Eva Goodman, 15, attended King’s court earlier this week with a nonprofit on a field trip.”

    I’m guessing that non-profit is done exposing kids to courtrooms now even as simple observers.

  • MiltownClowns@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    If that judge is so concerned about her sleep then he can buy her a house. She’ll sleep much better having a bedroom.

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’m glad she is suing him. It was insane how he doubled down on his actions. There are too many Judges who either racist or insane assholes without any empathy.

    • breetai@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Judges have immunity. So the lawsuit won’t go anywhere.

      It’s amazing how immunity people in power have

      • piecat@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Judges have immunity when acting in their official duties.

        If court were in session, that could be a real possibility. But it wasn’t, the girl was there for a fieldtrip.

        Kinda like police immunity. They can shoot you and your dog, but if they aren’t on duty, they don’t have that qualified immunity.

  • VelvetStorm@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Those officers should be fired, too. I do security for a living, and I would 100% have not detained her.

    • Asherah@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You do security, you’re not a cop. Totally different mindset, don’t compare yourself to pigs.

    • Woht24@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      And you would’ve 100% lost your job in the lovely free market of the US. I’m not sure what the laws surrounding ‘contempt’ are in the US, but I’d guess that’s what he’s charged her with and it’s a pretty grey area, so you as a court room bailiff, are not going to be ‘investigating’ and taking moral stands at work, she likely was the 10th person they’ve arrested and half of them don’t even know why the were radioed to come in and ‘assist with an arrest’

      The judge is a straight cunt though

        • Woht24@lemmy.world
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          Well yeah you think you would as you sit there on you moral high horse but as I said, half of them probably don’t even know why she’s being arrested. You come into a room and see her flailing around, fighting your colleagues and you’re going to start asking questions and making phone calls?

          Doubt it.

          • VelvetStorm@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Even in-between cases, there are bailiffs in the courtroom, so at least a 1 if them knew she did nothing. But go ahead and continue talking about stuff you clearly don’t know about.

            • Woht24@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I don’t think that comment had the impact you thought it did.

              Good luck to you with your abysmal employment laws!

  • tetrachromacy@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    This a-hole judge should be removed from the bench and fired for this. Or at least forced to undergo the same treatment.

    Has this judge even been to court before? If you’re not there to sue or be sued(or tried) or to watch someone for a specific reason, then court is boring as hell. Instead of punishing someone who fell asleep, congratulate those who stayed awake - that’s far more worthy of notice.

  • Ellia Plissken@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    it’s time for judges to get a fucking wakeup call. the amount of authority they have in a courtroom feels like the leftover vestiges of the English monarchy that are supposed to technically exist but not actually be exercised

  • kittenzrulz123
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    2 months ago

    Court when rich white guy sleeps: he’s just tried, no big deal

    Court when young black women sleeps: ARREST THAT MFR

  • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I don’t think they’ll pierce his immunity with this one sadly. Judges get absolute immunity that’s very hard to bypass vs executive branch officer qualified immunity.