ELG v. King

Published Sixth Circuit opinion, interlocutory appeal, affirming a denial of dismissal — so nobody won anything; King merely failed to kill the case at the pleading stage. The facts are allegations, taken as true: ELG, fifteen, in a vocational program, fell asleep in Judge King's gallery while he lectured the teenagers about his legal career. Court was in recess; the robe was off. Per the complaint, officers then locked her in a detention cell, handcuffed her, put a jail jumpsuit over her clothes (she declined to strip), held her for hours, and closed with a "phony mock trial" streamed on the court's YouTube channel. The tell: no case number, no order, no paper. Real judicial acts leave a docket; this left a video. Claims: § 1983 malicious prosecution and unlawful arrest under the Fourth Amendment, plus Michigan IIED, invasion of privacy, and false arrest and imprisonment. Review is de novo on a 12(b)(6); immunity is a question of law. Two-factor judicial-act test: factor one, the panel held that a judge can't shoot a sleeping observer and claim the fake proceedings served private interests, following the Eighth Circuit's Rockett and distinguishing Orta as unpublished and on-the-bench contempt. Factor two: ELG dealt with him after proceedings ended, in his private, non-judicial life as a lecturer, and he reportedly admitted he lacked authority. The cross-appeal was unnecessary and meritless. The cross-appeal was unnecessary and meritless: the "complete absence of all jurisdiction" theory presupposes a judicial act, which is the one thing Till's complaint insists never happened. Affirmed; back to the Eastern District for discovery. The holding is stage-limited. Immunity denied is not liability found.