Judge Kenneth King: Lawsuit, Misconduct, and Traffic Court

Judge Kenneth King is a Detroit 36th District Court judge who was pulled from his criminal docket, reassigned to traffic court, sued in federal court, and formally charged with judicial misconduct after he ordered a 15-year-old girl handcuffed and dressed in a jail uniform during a courtroom field trip in August 2024. He remains on the bench in the traffic division while both the federal civil rights case and the state misconduct proceedings play out.

What Happened on August 13, 2024

A group of teenagers visited King’s courtroom that day as part of a field trip organized by The Greening of Detroit, a local nonprofit. Fifteen-year-old Eva Goodman appeared to fall asleep. King singled her out, told her “You sleep at home in your bed, not in court,” and said he did not like her “attitude.”¹ He then asked the other students to vote on whether Goodman should be sent to a juvenile detention center, ordered her placed in handcuffs and a jail uniform, and verbally threatened her with detention in front of her peers.² The whole episode was broadcast on King’s YouTube livestream.³

In a television interview afterward, King described what he did as his “own version of Scared Straight” and said he wanted the experience to feel “very real” even though there was “no real chance” he would actually jail her. “Do I think I was heavy handed in what I did? No, I don’t,” he told a reporter. “Because I’ll do whatever it needs to be done to reach these kids and make sure that they don’t end up in front of me.”⁴

Goodman’s mother, Latoreya Till, said the family did not have a permanent address, which may have explained why her daughter was tired. Till said Goodman was struggling to sleep after the incident, afraid to go outside, and reluctant to interact with others. “Why the judge do me like this out of all the kids?” Goodman reportedly asked her mother.²

Removal From the Bench and Reassignment to Traffic Court

Two days after the field trip, Chief Judge William McConico removed King from his docket and opened an internal investigation, noting that King had not apologized to the teen or her mother.⁵ King was required to complete social and emotional training before returning to work, and the removal lasted about five weeks.⁶

When he returned in late September 2024, he was no longer hearing criminal cases. McConico reassigned him to traffic court, where he began filling in on September 24 and took over his own dedicated traffic docket on September 30.⁶ He told reporters, “I’m just glad to be back.” Before the incident, King had served as presiding judge of the court’s criminal division, overseeing the early stages of murder and domestic violence cases.⁷ As of 2026, he is still assigned to traffic.⁸

The Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

On August 21, 2024, attorneys James Harrington and Gary Felty of Fieger Law filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Goodman and Till in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The defendants are King, the court’s private security services, and two unidentified court officers.⁹

The complaint alleges eight constitutional violations, including unreasonable search and seizure, detention without due process, compelled self-incrimination, denial of the right to counsel, and cruel and unusual punishment. It seeks more than $75,000 for each alleged violation.⁹ The suit calls King’s actions “extreme and outrageous and calculated for the purpose of inflicting fear and severe emotional distress,” alleging he “acted as producer, broadcaster, complaining witness, arresting officer, finder of fact, judge and disciplinarian.”²

The Judicial Immunity Question

The central legal fight is whether King is shielded by judicial immunity, the doctrine that generally protects judges from civil liability for actions taken in their judicial capacity. King’s attorneys argue he was exercising his authority under Michigan law, which allows judges to hold spectators in contempt for disorderly behavior, and that his judicial authority was not suspended during a brief recess.¹⁰

Goodman’s attorneys argue that both exceptions to judicial immunity recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Mireles v. Waco (1991) apply here: that King was not acting in a judicial capacity, because there was no case number, no official record, and no formal order, and that he acted without jurisdiction, because the court was not in session at the time. Attorney James Harrington said there is “zero immunity for what happened” because Goodman was not a litigant, party, witness, or court officer, just a student on a field trip.⁹ As of late 2025, the judicial immunity question was pending before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.¹⁰

The Judicial Tenure Commission Misconduct Complaint

On November 13, 2025, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a formal misconduct complaint against King, designated Formal Complaint No. 111.¹¹ It covers two separate incidents.

The Field Trip Allegations

The commission alleges that King failed to provide due process or warn that sleeping could be considered contemptuous, failed to cite any law or place facts on the record, failed to follow legal procedures for contempt, and failed to treat Goodman with dignity. It notes he was off the bench and not wearing his robe at the time, and describes the peer vote on her fate as “devoid of due process.”¹²

A Previously Unreported 2022 Attorney Detention

The complaint also addresses a 2022 incident involving defense attorney Tyrone Bickerdt. During a hearing, an assistant prosecutor requested an adjournment over a discovery issue. Bickerdt said he had received some discovery and was prepared to proceed but had no objection to the delay. King challenged Bickerdt’s account, and when the attorney asked whether he was being threatened, King interrupted him, said “Keep talking. Be quiet. I’m done,” and ordered him detained in a holding cell behind the courtroom.¹³ According to the complaint, Bickerdt was held in handcuffs for hours, had not been belligerent, and King never formally found him in contempt or used the word “contempt.”¹⁴

King’s Response and Possible Sanctions

King filed a formal response at the end of November 2025, denying that he violated judicial canons, requesting dismissal of the complaint, and asserting affirmative defenses including judicial immunity. He acknowledged the interaction with Goodman but argued the commission’s account lacked context and denied intending to embarrass her. He admitted to the events involving Bickerdt but disputed specific allegations about the attorney’s behavior and the nature of the detention.¹⁰

The commission has petitioned the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a special master to preside over public hearings.¹¹ If the commission ultimately finds that King violated judicial rules or ethics guidelines, it can ask the Supreme Court to censure, suspend, or remove him from office.⁸

The YouTube Livestream Angle

The field trip incident also focused attention on King’s practice of livestreaming his courtroom on YouTube. His channel had posted at least 359 videos since 2020, drawing more than 680,000 views. A Detroit Free Press investigation found that King appeared to respond to viewer chat comments as early as 2022 and occasionally missed attorney objections while doing so. Chat moderation was handled by a private volunteer from Georgia, Rachel McCray, who had no official role with the court.³

Chief Judge McConico revoked McCray’s moderator privileges, calling them a security risk. On September 24, 2024, he issued an operational order banning the chat function on all 36th District Court YouTube livestreams and eliminating livestreaming for magistrates.¹⁵ Since his return to the bench, King does not appear to have resumed livestreaming.¹⁶

Where Things Stand

King is still on the bench in traffic court. The federal lawsuit remains before the Sixth Circuit on the judicial immunity question, and the state misconduct proceedings are moving toward a public hearing before a special master. The outcomes of those two tracks will determine whether he faces personal financial liability, formal discipline from the Michigan Supreme Court, or both.

1
BBC News. Detroit Judge Disciplines Teen During Courtroom Field Trip
2
Courthouse News Service. Detroit Judge Is Sued After Putting Teen in Handcuffs, Jail Clothes During Field Trip
3
Detroit Free Press. Detroit Judge Kenneth King YouTube Chat Scrutiny
4
WXYZ Detroit. Judge Who Handcuffed Sleepy Teen Speaks Out
5
KOAT. Detroit Judge Sued After Putting Teen in Handcuffs, Jail Clothes
6
Deadline Detroit. Detroit Judge Who Got in Hot Water Over Detaining Sleepy Teen Returns to Work
7
Detroit Free Press. Kenneth King Returns to Work in Traffic Court
8
Michigan Public. Judge Who Had Teen Handcuffed Faces State Discipline
9
Detroit Free Press. Detroit Judge Kenneth King Arrested Teenager Goodman
10
Minnesota Lawyer. Detroit Judge Judicial Immunity Misconduct Teen Detention
11
Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission. Formal Complaint 111
12
Detroit Free Press. Detroit Judge Kenneth King Sleepy Teen Misconduct Case
13
MLive. State Watchdog Files Complaint Against Judge Who Had Sleepy Teen Girl Detained, Handcuffed
14
WNEM. Complaint Authorized Against Detroit Judge Who Handcuffed Student on Field Trip
15
Detroit Free Press. Detroit District Judges Banned From Online Chats on Court Livestreams
16
Detroit Free Press. Michigan Viral Judges and Courts on YouTube