A Detroit judge temporarily removed from the bench after he detained a sleepy teen girl has returned to work after completing mandated training originally crafted for early childhood educators.
But it's not the same job for 36th District Judge Kenneth King : Instead of hearing the early stages of murder and domestic violence cases, Chief Judge William McConico said, King is headed to traffic court.
"Judge King has successfully completed his training and began hearing cases on the traffic docket (on Tuesday), filling in for another judge who is on vacation. On Monday, September 30th, he will assume his own docket in the traffic division," McConico said in a statement late Wednesday.
"We appreciate his efforts in preparing for this role, and wish him success as he transitions into this new responsibility."
A lawyer representing King did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment. Gary Felty, a lawyer representing the girl King had detained, declined to comment.
Before his removal, King had one of the more high-profile criminal case schedules in Detroit. He presided over the preliminary stages of the case against Michael Jackson-Bolanos , the man Wayne County prosecutors accused of killing well-known Detroit Jewish leader Samantha Woll. Jackson-Bolanos was eventually found not guilty of murder after King sent his case to 3rd Circuit Court for trial.
The traffic division handles far smaller cases. While some traffic-related matters can be criminal, others are civil citations. Common issues in this court include speeding, making an illegal turn or driving without insurance. The docket also handles crimes that might violate city ordinances but do not necessarily amount to breaking state law, according to the court website .
King successfully completed a course in a concept called "Conscious Discipline," McConico said. McConico handpicked a private, Chicago-based consultant to provide the training on an open-ended contract after he determined King's decision to handcuff and threaten a teen girl was inappropriate.
The trainer, Tanyelle Hannah, is a longtime educator. Until recently she worked as a principal at a school on Chicago's south side, according to multiple public profiles online . However, someone who answered the phone at the school Thursday said Hannah left about a year ago.
King's training was an open-ended contract. McConico said there was every effort to keep costs down, but his office won't know the final cost until the trainer submits an invoice. He declined to provide additional information about the cost.
The Conscious Discipline website says individual online courses can run several hundred dollars per program, but the company crafts individual quotes for specific training requests. It's unclear if Hannah's prices are comparable.
Conscious Discipline is a form of social emotional learning instruction designed to help teachers, administrators, mental health professionals and parents find the tools needed to regulate their own emotions while helping children or others under their charge thrive, according to the company's website .
"Conscious Discipline creates a compassionate culture and facilitates an intentional shift in adult understanding of behavior via the Conscious Discipline Brain State Model," states an "evidence" portion of the website.
"This highly effective approach is proven to increase self-regulation, sense of safety, connection, empathy and intrinsic motivation in both children and adults."
Hannah's profile speaks to her education credentials and how her training can help teachers, students and the broader school community. In describing her training with King, McConico said she would focus on "empathy and vulnerability in the legal practice, and addressing bias and fostering equity, among other topics."
She provided two virtual sessions a week and one in-person course on Saturdays, McConico said. Hannah recently posted to social media an image of herself outside the Motown Museum.
King remained off the bench for about six weeks, during which he was paid to receive training. There is very little McConico or anyone else can do in terms of docking a judge's pay; as is the case when anyone in an elected position is accused of wrongdoing, punishment options and oversight powers are limited.
McConico removed King from his scheduled docket after King had a teen girl detained, put in jail garb and handcuffed for repeatedly falling asleep in his courtroom during a field trip. The teen, who has since filed a federal lawsuit against King, was held for roughly two hours in an isolated cell. Eventually King brought her back to court, lambasting her before he asked her to plead with the court and her peers not to go to jail.
King told the Free Press previously he did not act inappropriately and was trying to impress upon the girl the seriousness of going to court. He has not provided additional comment since the lawsuit.
The Free Press also uncovered King's regular use of a chat in the livestream of his proceedings broadcast via YouTube. The investigation determined King regularly appeared to comment in the chat, at times during hearings and about those hearings. McConico and other judicial experts criticized this decision: Some noted he could violate judicial rules by having conversations outside of formal hearings with parties to a case, or garner relevant information from commenters despite those details not being a part of the court record.
The Free Press also reported King granted moderator privileges to a private citizen in the chat, a woman living in Georgia who was not employed by the court. McConico stripped her of this power and told the Free Press he was investigating the situation.
As of earlier this month, that investigation was ongoing. In his statement about King returning to the bench he did not provide an update on that case.
Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@freepress.com and on X, previously called Twitter, @Dave_Boucher1.
(This story was updated to delete a word.)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Embattled Judge Kenneth King completes training, heads back to bench — in traffic court
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