The scope of judicial immunity is broad, but, alas, it is not “handcuff-a-child-and-subject-them-to-a-live-streamed-show-trial-while-threatening-to-send-them-to-juvenile-hall-for-falling-asleep-on-a-field-trip” broad.
That’s the takeaway from the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Till v. King:
While Judge King was informing students in the program about his career as a lawyer, ELG fell asleep. This offended Judge King, so he devised a plan to “scare her straight.” ELG was placed in handcuffs, forced to wear a prison jumpsuit, and locked in a detention cell for several hours. Later that day, Judge King put ELG on “mock trial” before the other students in the program, which was streamed on the court’s YouTube channel.
ELG was 15 and on a school field trip. Her mother sued. The district court refused Judge Kenneth King’s attempt to assert judicial immunity last year. On appeal, a unanimous panel affirmed the district judge’s ruling.
The account of events is as galling as it is stupid. The judge had the girl taken to a detention cell, stripped and changed into a jumpsuit, and then “threatened to send” ELG to “‘juvey,’” “with vulgar stories of beatings and feces at the county’s juvenile detention center, falsely casting her as a dishonest, disrespectful delinquent.”
This was all done, according to the plaintiff and as cited by the Sixth Circuit, “for the benefit of his internet fans.” Influencer culture has gone too far, y’all.
All reasonable jurists would presumably agree, for example, that a judge cannot shield himself from suit if he draws a firearm and shoots an observer who has dozed off in his courtroom. Or if he sexually assaults a litigant.
Would they not? Because a majority of the Supreme Court takes the stance that presidential immunity extends to assassinations, so I would hesitate before dismissing what they might say if one of their own were up against it. That said, the Sixth Circuit opinion does condition this on “reasonable jurists” so that might exclude the justices.
Judge King’s appeal seemed doomed from the start. According to the Sixth Circuit, his briefing didn’t identify any actual error in the district court’s reasoning. When the opinion includes lines like “We will instead address the merits (or the lack thereof),” it’s not a great sign. King had asserted that “[u]nder all Federal and State case law, [the mother’s] arguments must fail,” citing one unpublished case and making, per the opinion, “little effort” to apply anything else.
Till also alleges that there is no case number, order, or any other court record associated with the events that transpired.
It is hard to claim judicial immunity for presiding over a fake case. Allegedly, he said on the livestream that “he probably did not have the authority to jail her.” While it’s disturbing that he used “probably” there, it’s still a damning admission to make before launching into a two-year court battle claiming that he was performing a function normally performed by a judge.
If this all sounds familiar, it unfortunately should. Judge Roger Benitez handcuffed a crying 13-year-old girl to a jury box in 2023, the Ninth Circuit’s Judicial Council sat on it for over a year, found that shackling a non-disruptive spectator exceeded his authority, and then did jack squat about it. Benitez responded that he disagreed, kept issuing opinions in his role as the gun manufacturing lobby’s favorite draw, and retired this spring on his own terms.
Benitez and King don’t have much in common, except judicial hubris. And access to a level of due process that wasn’t afforded the innocent kids in these stories.
Earlier: Okay, Judges Really Need To Stop Putting Innocent Kids In Handcuffs
Judge Who Handcuffed And Harassed Field Trip Student For Sleeping Could Face Consequences
Federal Judge Handcuffs Crying 13-Year-Old Girl Attending Father’s Hearing
Formal Complaint Lodged Against Federal Judge For Handcuffing Crying 13-Year-Old Girl
Judge Given Slap On Wrist After Handcuffing Innocent, Crying Child
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
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