DETROIT — A judge in Detroit who was temporarily removed after order a teenager in prison clothes and handcuffs during a field trip are back on the bench but given speeding tickets and other relatively minor offenses.
Judge Kenneth King lost courtroom duties in August and was ordered to social-emotional training by the Chief Judge of the 36th District Court. Instead of handling key hearings in major crimes, he returned this week to the court’s traffic division.
“We appreciate his efforts to prepare for this role and wish him well as he transitions to this new responsibility,” Judge William McConico said in a written statement.
King’s attorney, Todd Perkins, said the judge is willing to work anywhere on the court.
“He really understands and wholeheartedly embraces the concept of teamwork,” Perkins said Thursday.
King got in trouble for singling out a 15-year-old girl for falling asleep and having what he considered a bad attitude when she visited his courtroom with other teenagers.
He ordered Eva Goodman into prison garb and handcuffs — all while the field trip was on live-stream video. King also threatened her in front of her peers with juvenile detention before releasing her.
The girl’s mother, Latoreya Till, said she may have been tired because they have no fixed address. King told television stations that he apologized.
To have filed a lawsuit, seeks more than $75,000 for “inflicting fear and severe emotional distress.”
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