Judge Who Jailed Kids for Refusing to See Their Dad May Be Removed From Bench

The Michigan judge who held three children in civil contempt in July and sent them to a juvenile justice facility for refusing to see their father may be facing serious professional discipline. A complaint filed against Judge Lisa Gorcyca of Oakland County says that her demeanor on the bench was “improper” and that she made misrepresentations of the law during the case.

The July incident happened during a lengthy divorce and custody battle between Omer Tsimhoni and Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni, a case which has been going on for the last five years. Judge Gorcyca told the pair’s three children, then aged 15, 10, and 9, that they could all be held at a juvenile justice facility called Children’s Village for refusing to see their father.

The oldest child, a boy, told Gorcyca he didn’t wish to see his father because he’d witnessed him beating his mother. Gorcyca responded by telling the boy his father had never been charged with a crime, then strongly implied that his mother had brainwashed him:

You need to do a research program on Charlie Manson and the cult that he has. Your behavior in the hall with me months ago, your behavior in this courtroom, your behavior back there is unlike any I’ve seen in 46,000 cases. You, young man, are the worst one.

In August, Gorcyca sought to enter the children and their father into an intensive, controversial and rare “reunification” program designed to heal their relationship, although their mother retained physical custody. The children began living with him that month, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press and based on court records.