California judge faces review for handcuffing 13-year-old in court

A California judge is facing a misconduct complaint after a 13-year-old was handcuffed and questioned in his courtroom.

At the time, the girl's father was appearing before US District Judge Roger Benitez to have his probation revoked.

Mr Benitez told the girl that she would also "wind up in cuffs" if she ever turned to drugs.

The father's lawyer claims the incident was "psychologically damaging".

According to the Los Angeles Time, the girl's father - who was not named - had completed a five-year prison sentence on drug distribution charges. He was in Mr Benitez's federal courtroom in San Diego on 13 February in a bid to have his supervised release revoked.

Speaking to the court, the father said that he feared that his daughter was "following the same footsteps" and encountering situations that will "lead her into the same path that I went down".

The comments prompted Mr Benitez to order a US marshal to "put cuffs on her". She then began to cry.

Transcripts of the incident show that Mr Benitez told the girl she was "an awfully cute young lady" but that she would likely "spend most of your life in and out of jail" if she became involved with drugs.

Her father was sentenced to 10 months back in prison.

"I hope the next time you're tempted to use drugs, even weed....you'll remember what happened here today," Mr Benitez said. "I hope you remember this mean, old face."

The courtroom incident was first reported by the "Above the Law" blog on 27 February.

While complaints against judges usually remain confidential, the report prompted chief judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to say that disclosing a review of the incident was necessary and in the public's interest

In a court filing on 23 February, the father's attorney wrote that the incident was "psychologically damaging and harmful" and that the use of handcuffs on children can be "severely traumatising".

The father's probation case was later reassigned to another judge, who deemed that an additional prison sentence was no longer necessary as a result of the "distressing events that occurred".

The BBC has reached out to Mr Benitez for comment. In an email, he told Reuters that he is "prohibited from speaking about pending cases".

Mr Benitez - who was first nominated to become a federal judge by then President George W Bush in 2001 - gained national recognition for a series of rulings which struck down gun control laws in California.