Steven Pepple

Detroit Free Press

A special master appointed by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission says Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca was guilty of misconduct when she held three children in contempt of court in a contentious custody case and sent them to juvenile detention after they refused to interact with their estranged father.

The ruling released 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 ruling comes after a trial in late May before a judge over complaints filed by the Judicial Tenure Commission, accusing Gorcyca of inappropriate behavior during a June 24, 2015, hearing involving the three minor children of Omer Tsimhoni and Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni.

The case drew international media attention last summer when Gorcyca remanded the three children, now 14, 11 and 10, to Mandy’s Place, a facility within the Children’s Village juvenile detention center, for refusing to participate in parenting time with their father. The complaint accused Gorcyca of speaking to the children with anger and sarcasm and misrepresenting facts by telling the children they would be locked in jail cells and forced to use the bathroom in front of others, possibly until they turned 18.

She also at one point accused at least one of the children of engaging in cult-like behavior similar to the followers of infamous mass murderer Charles Manson, while twirling her finger around the side of her head.

The findings next go to the full Judicial Tenure Commission, which will decide whether to accept the findings and submit them to the Michigan Supreme Court with a recommendation for discipline. Gorcyca can also challenge the findings at the Supreme Court level.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Ryan, the special master appointed to preside over the judicial trial, had a harsh rebuke for Gorcyca at the conclusion of his ruling.

"Contrary to the chilling impact Judge Gorcyca contends this case will have on judges across the state, 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. 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 is using the tool properly before employing one of the 34 penultimate tools of inherent judicial power, a contempt finding, to deprive any individual, or children in this case, of their liberty."

Neither Gorcyca nor her attorney could be immediately reached for comment by the Free Press.

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