Michigan Judge Can Be Sued for Livestreaming a Mock Hearing of Teen Who Fell Asleep on a Field Trip
The Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled that judicial immunity did not cover Kenneth King's "scared straight" approach to a sleepy 15-year-old.
The Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled that a Michigan judge can be sued for ordering the handcuffing and detention of a teenager who'd fallen asleep in his courtroom during a field trip.
While judges enjoy broad immunity from lawsuits for their official acts, the 6th Circuit ruled that Judge Kenneth King was acting well outside his official capacity when, in August 2024, he had then-15-year-old Eva Goodman placed in a detention cell, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, and then forced to undergo a mock livestreamed hearing, all for nodding off while he talked to her class about his career as a lawyer.
King threatened to send Goodman to juvenile detention before ultimately letting her go.
Shortly after the incident, Goodman's parent sued King on a variety of counts, including malicious prosecution, unlawful arrest, violation of her Fourth Amendment rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In comments to the press at the time of the initial filing, King defended his action.
"I wasn't trying to punish the young lady. What I was trying to do was, I was trying to serve as a deterrent," he told The Detroit Free Press.
King was ultimately sanctioned by judicial authorities for his treatment of Goodman; he was moved from his role hearing the early stages of felony cases to traffic court, reports the Free Press.
In 2025, a district court also rejected his motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that his treatment of Goodman in his courtroom was covered by judicial immunity for official acts.
King made this argument again to a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit, which also rejected it in late August.
"Not all actions taken by a judge in his courtroom are protected by judicial immunity. All reasonable jurists would presumably agree, for example, that a judge cannot shield himself from suit if he draws a firearm and shoots an observer who has dozed off in his courtroom," wrote U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ronald Lee Gilman for the panel.
According to the King, his intention in briefly jailing Goodman and threatening her with longer detention was meant to teach her a lesson about respecting the judicial process.
His actions provide another teachable moment about the extent of judicial immunity.
While it's usually difficult to sue judges for their courtroom behavior, the immunity that protects them is not without limits. According to the 6th Circuit, treating a sleepy teenager as an actual criminal defendant sits outside that limit.