Judge Makes Teen Wear Prison Clothes For Falling Asleep During Field Trip

A Detroit judge is facing criticism for how he disciplined a teenager who fell asleep in his courtroom during a field trip. The 16-year-old girl was on a trip sponsored by The Greening of Detroit.

During the hearing, 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King stopped the proceedings to call out Eva Goodman for falling asleep.

"You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I'm putting you in the back, understood?" King told her, according to The Detroit Free Press . "One thing you'll learn about my courtroom is that I am not a toy. I am not to be played with."

Judge King was not happy with Goodman's "attitude" and ordered her to change into jail clothes and had her handcuffed. He then threatened the teen with jail time, even asking her peers if he should send her to a juvenile detention facility.

"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."

The entire ordeal left Goodman traumatized, her mother Latoreya Hill told WXYZ .

"To belittle her in front of the whole world and her friends, to make her feel even more worse about our situation," Hill said through tears . "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."

Judge King defended his actions when asked by the news station.

"Do I have any reservations? Do I think I was heavy-handed in what I did? No, I don't, 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," Judge King said. "That was my own version of scared straight."