Report: Michigan judge who locked up 3 kids committed misconduct
DETROIT -- A suburban Detroit judge who sent three siblings to juvenile detention during a rancorous custody case and made references to Charles Manson's cult committed several acts of judicial misconduct, according to a report released Friday.
Retired Judge Daniel Ryan sharply criticized Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca, who said she locked up the children for not having lunch with their estranged dad only as a last resort. Ryan was appointed as a special master in the case.
"This is not a case that stands for the proposition that judges cannot employ stern language or make difficult decisions from the bench in contentious cases," he said after hearing evidence over two days.
"It is a disciplinary action which stands for the singular proposition that if a judge is going to use the inherent power of contempt, the ultimate 'tool in the toolbox,' after years of 'frustration,' the judge may wish to consult the owner's manual to make sure that she or he are using the tool properly," Ryan wrote.
In June 2015, after more than five years, Gorcyca still was presiding over a custody case involving feuding parents and three kids who appeared to be loyal to their mother.
CBS Detroit station WWJ reported that she had sent the siblings -- 15, 10 and nine -- to a juvenile detention center for failing to eat with their dad. They were released after two weeks amid widespread publicity.
The children's parents, Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni and Omer Tsimhoni, have been involved in a bitter divorce battle for six years. The Bloomfield Hills couple, who married in 1995, have made dozens of court appearances concerning parenting time, therapy, schooling and other issues -- but have never reached common ground.
At the 2015 hearing, Gorcyca told the children that their father has "gone through hoops" to maintain a relationship with them despite his issues with their mother. The judge insisted the children make an effort to talk to their father and Omer Tsimhoni suggested they have lunch together -- but the children refused.
Transcripts show Gorcyca suggested that at one of the kids was acting like a follower of Manson, a 1960s mass murderer.
"I've never seen anything like this," Gorcyca said during the hearing, according to WWJ. "One day you can watch this video and realize that you two have been brainwashed... This is not normal behavior. No adult in this courtroom, except one, thinks this is normal. Every single adult in this courtroom thinks you have been brainwashed."
"I ordered you to talk to your father. You chose not to talk to your father. You defied a direct court order. It's direct contempt so I'm finding you guilty of civil contempt," Gorcyca told the 15-year-old boy in court that day, according to the Oakland Press.
"You're very defiant. You have no manners," the judge reportedly added. "You need to do a research program on Charlie Manson and the cult that he has. ... You are so mentally messed up right now and it's not because of your father. And one day you are going to realize what's going on in this case and you're going to apologize to your dad."
The judge then turned her attention to the father, Omer Tsimhoni, saying, "Dad, if you ever think that he has changed and he's no longer like Charlie Manson's cult, then you let us know."
Ryan also found that Gorcyca made a false statement during an investigation by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, a watchdog agency that filed the ethics complaint.
The judge, among other things, failed to "observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved," Ryan said.
Gorcyca denies any misconduct. Any punishment will be up to the Michigan Supreme Court. About 200 Detroit-area lawyers have signed a letter supporting her.