Complaint says judge erred when putting kids in juvenile detention for refusing lunch with dad
Judge Lisa Gorcyca.
A legal ethics complaint has been filed against a Michigan judge over her handling of a court hearing concerning the resistance of three siblings to court-ordered parenting time with their father.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Lisa Gorcyca made headlines when she sent all three “brainwashed” children to juvenile detention for refusing to have lunch with their dad earlier this year.
However, it was the manner in which she did so that got her in hot water with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
It says in a Monday complaint that Gorcyca ridiculed the oldest son, then 15, in court, even making circles with one finger toward her temple at one point as she compared him to followers of Charles Manson.
The judge also “failed to act in a patient, dignified and courteous manner” and made “significant misrepresentations of law and fact” to all three children, the complaint alleges.
It contends in a second count that Gorcyca made misrepresentations to the commission when she was initially asked to explain what had occurred at the June 2015 hearing in her courtroom.
A lawyer for Gorcyca told the Detroit Free Press that the judge expects to be “fully vindicated” as the ethics matter unwinds.
“We are extremely disappointed that the Judicial Tenure Commission decided to proceed with a complaint but we are looking forward to telling the whole story of this tragic case at a formal hearing,” said attorney Tom Cranmer in a written statement.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Children sent to juvenile facility for refusing relationship with dad are now going to summer camp”
