5 ms·
US judge has girl handcuffed for sleeping during court field trip
- falcolas 2y agoJudge maybe needs to learn the same lesson. Power tripping is not appropriate behavior either.
- mdgrech23 2y agogood luck w/ that
- yimmothathird 2y agoAt this point I'm convinced judges are among the most corrupt, despicable government officials in the US.
- grugagag 2y agoThe judge got suspended. He is better off taking some anger management classes and apologising to the sleepy girl. Not sure how long his suspension will last but his record will have that on.
- mcphage 2y ago> "I wanted to get through to her, show how serious this is," he said, adding: "I'll do whatever needs to be done to reach these kids I'm sure he reached them, but I don't know if the message he sent was the message he intended.
- gpvos 2y agoYes, it's a good way to lose respect.
- _def 2y agoMistrust authority.
- FireBeyond 2y ago"Authority is absolutely not on your side. Authority is on authority's side."
- JohnFen 2y agoIt's hard to see what other message would be communicated by this. Also: > I wanted this to look and feel very real to her, even though there's probably no real chance of me putting her in jail," he said. Probably no real chance?? > "That was my own version of Scared Straight." Oh, he means that program that not only doesn't work, but tends to result in the opposite of what it purports to be trying to accomplish? https://psychcentral.com/blog/scared-straight-not-really https://psychcentral.com/blog/scared-straight-not-really > The program effect, whether assuming a fixed or random effects model, was nearly identical and negative in direction, regardless of the meta-analytic strategy.” In other words, Scared Straight not only doesn’t work, it may actually be more harmful than doing nothing.
- ryandvm 2y ago"The system's purpose is what it does" or whatever. The kid learned exactly what they need to know - a judge having a bad day can seriously alter the trajectory of your life.
- leptons 2y agoThe judge doesn't know why she was falling asleep, there could be a problem at home causing her to loose sleep. The girl also had no choice in being there - it's a school field trip, and I'm sure she'd rather be napping in the bus if she had the choice. Humiliating her in this way is not how to "reach her", it does the opposite.
- alwa 2y agoAnd in fact, the girl’s single mother says near the end of the article that the girl does not have “her own bed” to sleep in :/
- zb1plus 2y agoWe really need to eliminate all these special powers afforded to judges, police and other government officials. They are civil servants and need to remember whatever authority they have is granted by the people and exists only to serve the community. Sadly, most of the people in government don't seem to realize this fact of public office / civil service in any democratic society.
- supermatt 2y agoi guess someone needs the power to enforce the law. But for someone who isn't even on trial? that feels like a major oversight if they really do have that power.
- Ekaros 2y agoWho else would have the power in court room? No one apart from the Defendant and maybe their public defender is forced to be there. They are there by choice and thus should act accordingly. Judge is in charge of the place for duration of trial, so should have rights to instruct any deputies present.
- supermatt 2y agoThe same people that have the power to remove people causing a disturbance elsewhere. The police could have been instructed to remove them, arrest them, issue a summons for court, and then the judge can have their turn. That a judge can skip that entire process on a whim is a massive overreach. I see in the news that the judge has been removed from trials for "training". Hopefully they will stick him in cuffs, dress him in prison garb, and publicly humiliate him in front of his peers while they flip a coin to decide if he should spend his "holiday" in prison. But I doubt it.
- neon_me 2y agoThe judge and everyone who follows this creep should be fired and put in front of court for abuse of powers.
- jvanderbot 2y agoKnock the savagery of it all you want. I've served on juries. The lesson is "The court is a place where your life ends at a capricious coin-toss by 12 idiots". This is a perfect way to show that. Everyone should fear being in a courtroom as anything other than an employee or jury member.
- Windchaser 2y ago"Everyone should fear being in a courtroom as anything other than an employee or jury member" But to fear it as a student, on a field trip? I can't imagine punishing a teenager for being so exhausted they fall asleep.
- onemoresoop 2y agoFalling asleep isn't even intentional. How does one know who's suffering from sleep apnea or other condition causing poor sleep.
- M95D 2y ago> Judge King tells Eva: "You sleep at home in your bed, not in court." > Her mother, however, said Eva did not have "her own bed that she can sleep in".
- kaycey2022 2y agoJust don't be there
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ryandvm 2y agoGood point. Perhaps the kid learned pretty cheaply that you don't fuck around when you're in the presence of a de facto king.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- darby_nine 2y agoWhat sort of capability does the US court system have to admit accountability or remediate past mistakes or to question whether a judge still belongs as a judge? I don't think I've ever seen this happen outside of the appeal system (admittedly working far from its day to day business). It's really quite revealing that the judge seems to believe the power of the court emerges from fear of it, not out of its unique ability to resolve disputes reasonably.
- duxup 2y agoJudges do have oversight and they can / are disciplined for behavior. It even happens when the behavior would be otherwise legal for most folks, but inappropriate for a judge who does something outside the court as an individual. It happens fairly regularly.
- darby_nine 2y agoWhat does this process look like and how can I follow when this happens?
- duxup 2y agoI usually find out about it by reading the news.
- shadowgovt 2y agoIt varies from place to place. In some states, judges are elected positions and their appointment comes to for review; in others, they're not.
- mdgrech23 2y agoI mean the highest court in the land, the US supreme court has members openly taking bribes a la Clarance Thomas and he's still around.
- duxup 2y agoGenerally unless you're a teacher or school administrator, or the police and there is a serious issue ongoing, I think it's best left to the parents to make those kinds of calls. Very strange incident.
- neilv 2y ago> The teenager was visiting the 36th District Court for a trip organised by the environmental charity The Greening, whose other excursions include kayaking and bird-watching. > [...] Mr King said he stood by his decisions. "I wanted this to look and feel very real to her, even though there's probably no real chance of me putting her in jail," he said. "That was my own version of Scared Straight." Is it "https://www.greeningofdetroit.com/ https://www.greeningofdetroit.com/"? > The Greening of Detroit is a non-profit organization focused on enhancing the quality of life for Detroiters by planting trees, providing job training and involving our youth in the education of the natural environment. We involve Detroiters in the process through community engagement, green spaces, education and jobs. Is this primarily an at-risk teens program, without saying that directly? Why were these teens visiting a courtroom? Why did the judge think "Scared Straight" trauma was appropriate under the circumstances?
- ziddoap 2y ago>Why were these teens visiting a courtroom? It's not really that unusual. Every student in my district (thousands) visited their local courthouses in Civics class in 10th grade. >Why did the judge think "Scared Straight" trauma was appropriate under the circumstances? Power tripping.
- supermatt 2y ago> Power tripping Exactly this. How can it be seen in any other way? Why do these people have such power to do this to someone who isn’t breaking any law? I appreciate that someone needs to take responsibility for a decision over a trial, but for someone not involved in a trial? What repercussions are there for a judge to behave like this? This is some major authoritarian judge dredd shit.
- neilv 2y agoNot a civics class, but an environmental charity. Maybe the environmental charity was visiting a courtroom because environmental conscientiousness sometimes involves engaging with government processes through the courts, and a courtroom visit would make that abstraction more concrete. Or maybe the environmental charity has an at-risk youth program component, and someone thought it would be a good idea to confront teens with some of the undesirable reality of getting into crime. In either case, the judge might or might not have been in the loop on that. They might've just been in default mode, where they see bad and troubled behavior every day, all day.
- g15jv2dp 2y ago> One thing you'll learn about my courtroom is that I'm not a toy. I am not to be played with. What a narcissistic piece of shit. Not everything is about you...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- axus 2y agoI'd have thought the correct procedure is to have the bailiff remove them from the courtroom, handcuffs would only be needed if they refused to go. They can pout in the hallway. From the article, it was more than just handcuffing and the judge caused more disruption than she did.
- morsch 2y agoNot just handcuffed. Also dressed in a jail outfit, and threatened with juvenile detention. I'm not sure which is worse.
- xdennis 2y agoThis is sickening. How has he not been arrested? She was not on trial. Can judges cast judgement on people who haven't been accused of anything? I obviously don't know anything about the legal system, but isn't holding someone who isn't on trial technically kidnapping? And forcing a minor to undress and put on a prison uniform is insane.
- astura 2y ago>How has he not been arrested? Humiliating school children is not a crime. Though it's a really shitty thing to do . >Can judges cast judgement on people who haven't been accused of anything? A judge maintains order in their courtroom. They have a large amount of latitude in how they do that. Even though it's a terrible thing to do, I don't believe anything illegal occurred.
- onemoresoop 2y agoThis is a bit beyond humiliation, this amounted to traumatizing a person for an involuntary action. The student could have sleep apnea...
- tekno45 2y agoUsing your powers as a judge inappropriately should be.
- Volundr 2y ago> Humiliating school children is not a crime. Though it's a really shitty thing to do. I don't think if I slap someone in handcuffs and force them to change clothes I'll be able to write it off as just "humiliating" them when the legal system comes calling.
- NetworkPerson 2y agoThis feels like an overstep at first read, but I take a little pause that the judge mentioned it was more than sleeping which bothered him. Should he react that way? Probably not. But I’d like to hear more about how that teen specifically acted towards the judge before jumping too far into an opinion.
- oicu812 2y ago"It was her whole attitude and her whole disposition that disturbed me," the judge said in interviews afterwards. I wish I could read the transcript of what the 15-year-old girl said. I suspect it was some really disrespectful stuff, which doesn't justify the judge's actions, but does add context to why he did it.
- astura 2y agoI read somewhere else the entire exchange was streamed online. His streams are here if you're interested in looking for it. https://youtube.com/@CTRMthDistrictCourt-hj2tc https://youtube.com/@CTRMthDistrictCourt-hj2tc
- xenospn 2y agoA judge has the authority to handcuff someone who isn’t on trial? How did that happen?
- fallinghawks 2y agoExactly. What crime did this kid commit that justifies being cuffed and put in a jail uniform?
- MattPalmer1086 2y agoWow. Something is deeply wrong with that judge if he cannot deal with a non threatening situation without resorting to the humiliation of a child.