A Texas judge had a mother handcuffed after finding her outfit inappropriate for the courtroom and accusing her of allegedly taking a photo on her phone.
A video of the incident, which was posted on TikTok in early September, quickly went viral, garnering over 18 million views.
In the video, District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd calls the woman to the bench and scolds her for her clothing choice.
“First of all, why are you in this court wearing shorts?” Judge Boyd asked the woman, who approached the bench dressed in a blue blouse and white shorts.
“First of all why are you in this court in shorts?” the woman responded.
Despite her apology, Judge Boyd showed little leniency and continued to reprimand her. The judge demanded that the woman hand over her phone to the court deputy to ensure any photos she had taken were deleted.
“Who were you taking photos of?” Judge Boyd inquired.
The woman explained that she was only messaging her daughter to let her know her son was “okay,” but this explanation didn’t satisfy the judge. “No, my question is, who were you taking photos of?” Judge Boyd insisted.
@briannaminnie0 #judge #court #crime #foryou ♬ original sound – Rosalyn Marlene
Following the exchange, Judge Boyd instructed the court deputy to handcuff the woman and place her in the “box.”
“Alright, so Deputy Lori, if you put her in cuffs, since you want to be next to her son, put her in the box.”
Many TikTok viewers were stunned by the judge’s actions.
“The judge is way out of line…” one commenter wrote.
“So what if someone has to go to court and they don’t have any nice clothing nor can they afford it????” another asked.
“Wow, too much power and not enough compassion,” someone else remarked.