By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-30 02:39:48 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:30:10
3 hours ago
A Texas judge placed a mother in handcuffs after she appeared in court wearing shorts and was seen taking a photograph using her cellphone.
A video of the interaction between District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd saw the woman being reprimanded by the judge for her choice of attire and breaking courtroom rules for using her phone.
The particularly cantankerous exchange has been viewed on TikTok more than 18 million times.
It led to TikTok viewers doing some judging of their own as they called out the judge for her 'ridiculously harsh' treatment of the woman who had been in court to support her son.
District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd of the Texas 187th District Court is coming in for criticism
Judge Boyd became impatient with a woman who was wearing shorts in the courtroom and using her cellphone
Viewers initially see the woman approach the bench wearing a blue blouse and white shorts as she is summoned by the judge.
'You! Come forward!', the judge demanded, summoning the lady. Why are you in this court in shorts?' Judge Boyd asks curtly.
'I'm sorry, I just … I've never really been in court,' the woman replies.
But there is little sympathy from Judge Boyd who asks the woman to immediately hand over her phone.
Boyd then summons a court deputy to come over and asks him to delete the picture that she is accused of having taken.
'Who were you taking photos of?' the judge demands to know.
'Oh, I was just letting my daughter know my son's okay,' the woman replies meekly.
'No, my question is who were you taking photos of?' the judge asks again growing steadily angrier.
The woman was asked to explain why she was wearing shorts and using her phone
The courtroom deputy was called over to delete the last photo on the woman's cellphone
'My son, Rick,' the woman explains, whose son appears to be the defendant in the court case the judge was presiding over.
The judge's mind appears to be made up with her calling over the courtroom deputy to place her in handcuffs while asking him to delete the last photo the woman had taken on her phone.
'Turn your phone over to the deputy. Leave your phone open and do not close it. Alright, so Deputy Lord, if you put her in cuffs, since you want to be next to her son, put her in the box,' the judge orders as the officers places her in plastic hand ties.
'I apologize, ma'am, I didn't know,' the woman again says.
'Oh I appreciate your apology,' the judge responds.
The deputy then placed the woman in cuffs and marched her out of the courtroom
The video has gone viral online with many calling into question the judge's own judgement.
'The judge is way out of line,' wrote Cathrin in one many comments in a similar vein.
'Wow what an attitude the judge has,' stated Sam.
'Wow too much power and not enough compassion,' added John with his take on what he'd just watched.
'Now that was mean. Little too harsh,' said Jamilia.
'The judge is way out of line,' another viewer said.
But others appeared to understand the situation the judge was in.
'There's an expected level of etiquette in court,' one wrote. 'Also, they announce before the judge comes out to put all phones away.'
'I understand the phone thing because the rules are everywhere and it tells you that but I never heard of no shorts in the courtroom,' added a user called Brandy.
