The 15-year-old girl who was forced to wear jail clothing and handcuffs after falling asleep in a courtroom during a field trip is suing the Detroit judge over the incident.
Eva Goodman and her mother filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against 36th District Judge Kenneth King. They claim that he violated the teen’s civil rights, arguing that King overstepped his judicial authority by detaining her, shouting at her, and threatening her with jail time.
“Common sense and the facts demonstrate that a grown man became rattled by a young girl that he falsely concluded to be and cast as a delinquent, who was actually a fragile teenager forced to attentively face a past trauma during an actual prior court proceeding that had ended, before shutting down during class,” the lawsuit reads.
Goodman and her mother, Latoreya Till, are represented by attorneys James Harrington and Gary Felty from Fieger Law. Along with suing Judge King, the family is also taking legal action against the private security services at the court and two unidentified court officers who were present in King’s courtroom that day.
As we previously reported the child’s mother spoke out about the situation and explained why her daughter was tired. If you remember, Judge King stated that the measure was meant to instill a lesson in decorum and respect, but Hill believes the judge lacks a complete understanding of the situation. “Would you want someone to treat your child like that? Would you even treat your child like that,” the child’s mother, Latoreya Hill asked while fighting back tears.
Judge King noticed Eva Goodman dozing off during the trip and decided to put Goodman in handcuffs and a jail uniform. “I think maybe she needs to go to the juvenile detention facility,” Judge King said in court. “Why are you being disrespectful to this court? You sleep in bed at your home, not at court.” Hill explained that Goodman was struggling to stay awake because the family is currently without a stable home and she is single mother trying to make ends meet. “The fact that he was talking about ‘you go home and get in your bed’, how do you know my baby got a home, how do you know my baby got a bed, her own bed she could sleep in, she don’t have that right now, so she was tired,” Hill said.