One year ago this week, Liberal America reported that a Michigan judge named Lisa Gorcyca had ignored three children’s wishes to stay away from their father, who they had witnessed physically abusing their mother. Gorcyca not only ignored the children’s wishes, she humiliated them and abused them further by throwing them in a children’s detention center.
The Detroit Free Press reported on Friday that:
“The ruling this afternoon found Gorcyca ‘failed to establish, maintain, enforce, and personally observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved.’ It also says she failed to take ‘personal responsibility for her own behavior’ on the bench, an apparent reference to charges she lied in her initial response to the Judicial Commission’s investigation.”
The investigation stemmed from reports that Gorcyca abused her authority when she held children in contempt of court for refusing to spend court-ordered time with their father, a man they assert had abused their mother. Gorcyca didn’t stop at the contempt charges, however. Court transcripts also revealed that she compared the 15-year-old son of the divorcing couple to Charles Manson.
Gorcyca also threatened to sentence their 9-year-old daughter to jail and told her she would be forced to urinate in public, possibly until she turned 18.
When the children continued to advocate for their right to refuse to spend time with a father they deemed abusive, Gorcyca made good on her threats.
“Deputies handcuffed the children from Bloomfield Hills, escorted them from the courtroom and took them to the Children’s Village.”
No one was forced to use the restroom in public, and that type of cruel misrepresentation, used to frighten small children, was one of the reasons for the guilty verdict. Removing children from their mother in handcuffs was another. A video of those children being taken out of court was shown during Gorcyca’s hearing for misconduct.
“’The tape shows an incredible misuse of her judicial power, and her behavior and what she did and what she said and how she did it and how she said it to those three minor children,’ said Margaret Rynier, associate examiner with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, during today’s proceeding.”
The Detroit Free Press also noted that:
“The complaint alleges that Gorcyca had a sheriff’s deputy handcuff the children in open court and laughed at them even as the youngest wept and trembled with fear.”
Gorcyca is unlikely to continue to serve as a judge following the guilty verdict, which was handed down on Friday. Twice, she lied to the commission: once about using her finger to make a circle next to her head while comparing a child to Charles Manson, and the second time when she testified that she had not held the children in contempt.
As the Detroit Free Press noted:
“Anybody, even a judge, can have a bad day at work. But the historical precedent is clear: You can’t lie to the Judicial Tenure Commission about your bad day and still be a judge when the smoke clears.”
For video of the misconduct hearings, see video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXi8O3Cex0I
