Suspended License Courtroom Zoom Call / Corey Harris Driving

About

Suspended License Courtroom Zoom Call also known as Corey Harris Driving refers to a viral video showing a Michigan courtroom Zoom call where a man named Corey Harris tunes into a session to dispute his suspended driving license while driving a car. The video, which went viral on May 29th, shows the Judge looking at Harris in disbelief as he says that he is "pulling into the parking lot" at his doctor's office, with the Judge clarifying that Harris is indeed driving on a suspended license. Screenshots from the video showing Harris looking at the camera open-mouthed and the incredulous Judge looking off to the side were shared online as reaction memes in late May 2024.

Origin

On May 15th, 2024, Ann Arbor District Judge Cedric Simpson livestreamed an entire day of court proceedings on YouTube, ^[1] with a man named Corey Harris appearing over Zoom in an effort to get his driver's license suspended.

However, Harris can be seen tuning into the courtroom session while driving his car, saying that he is pulling into his doctor's office. A repost of the clip from May 29th, 2024, can be seen below.^[2]

A transcript of the interaction is shown below;

Judge Cedric Simpson: Mr. Harris, are you driving?
Corey Harris: Actually, I’m pulling into my doctor’s office, actually, so, just give me one second. I’m parking right now
Public Defender: Your Honor, we are respectfully requesting an adjournment in this matter, possibly for three to four weeks if the court would allow.
Judge Cedric Simpson: Okay, so maybe I don’t understand something. This is a driving while license suspended [case], and he was just driving, and he didn’t have a license
Public Defender: That is correct, your honor.
(Several seconds of silence)
Judge Cedric Simpson: I don’t even know why he would do that. So, the defendant's bond is revoked on this matter, and he is to to turn himself in by 6 p.m. today.
Corey Harris: Oh my god.

Spread

The video went viral online after May 29th, 2024, with reposts appearing on multiple news channels including CBS,^[3] NBC,^[4] and ABC^[5] News's YouTube channels.

Also on May 29th, X^[6] user @4_Ben_Media posted the video with the caption, "How are you this dumb???" The post gathered over 100,000 likes and received various replies that clipped the Judge and Corey Harris's reactions.

even the judge couldn’t keep a straight face🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/hm2b72em81

— ً (@tylerduran21) May 29, 2024

X^[7] user @roywoodjr posted a clip of Corey Harris saying "Oh my god" after receiving his sentence, gathering over 5,000 likes in a day (seen below).

Felt this shit in my soul pic.twitter.com/q29dDJL5zg

— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) May 29, 2024

X^[8][9] users @JoeBriggsEsq and @SweetPea1636 posted stills from the video on May 29th, gathering over 60,000 and 40,000 likes respectively (seen below).

"Suspended License" and "Never Had A License" Reveal

On June 2nd, 2024, it was reported that Harris actually had the suspension on his license revoked in 2022 but it never went through due to a clerical error. This led social media to celebrate that Harris was vindicated of wrongdoing.

However, on June 5th, Judge Simpson revealed that Harris actually never had a driver's license for any state in his life. In Michigan, one can rack up suspensions on one's driving record even without a valid license, and should they obtain a license, they would have to clear those suspensions before being legally allowed to drive. Thus, while Harris may have had the suspensions lifted, he never paid the fees to have that go through, nor could he have legally driven anyway because he didn't have a license at all. Harris was sent back to jail after the hearing.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References