Jonathan Vanderhagen took to Facebook with a storm of criticism, with one post containing profanities, against a Macomb County judge and the court system that he believes failed his young son, who died nearly two years ago during a custody case.

The judge notified the sheriff's office when she was alerted to some of his posts like this one: "Exposing bad, corrupt & shady people like you is what the (expletive) I do ;) Get this (expletive) out of our court system," according to a police report.

Two days later, the Chesterfield Township man was charged with a misdemeanor — malicious use of telecommunications services. He posted a $1,000 bond and was ordered not to have any contact with the judge.

But Vanderhagen continued to make Facebook posts about the system and his son, many including images of Snoopy and Batman, which were the boy's favorite characters, his lawyer says.

That's when things took a unexpected turn.

When the 35-year-old returned to District Court on July 24 on the misdemeanor, a different judge decided Vanderhagen had violated the no-contact part of his bond. He ordered him held on a $500,000 cash surety bond and to undergo a mental health examination while he was in the jail.

"This is unheard of — a $500,000 cash (bond) is for somebody who is very dangerous or who has the means to leave the country," said Vanderhagen's attorney, Nicholas Somberg of Bloomfield Hills. He said Vanderhagen is neither.

Other legal experts agreed the bond does appear to be high, while pointing out that few judges like to see their orders ignored.

More:This part of the Macomb County Jail is old and hot

Somberg said Vanderhagen has no prior criminal record, no firearms and no concealed pistol license.

Vanderhagen's mother, Deborah, said her son, who lived with her and who she describes as an artist and a musician, is "holding on" since being jailed July 24 in the Macomb County lockup.

She said he's told her: "I will not break. I'm not guilty of anything."

Jonathan Vanderhagen is scheduled for a jury trial Friday in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township. If convicted of the misdemeanor, he could be sentenced up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

'Troubling posts'

In 2017, Vanderhagen filed for sole custody of his 1-year-old son, arguing the boy's mother had a history of drug use and wasn't properly caring for Killian, who was born with hydrocephalus and required therapy and regular doctor visits.

The case was assigned to Circuit Court Judge Rachel Rancilio, but Killian died while in his mother's care in Genesee County in September 2017. No charges were filed in his death.

Rancilio contacted the Macomb County Sheriff's Office on July 8 of this year after some "troubling posts" she was alerted to on Facebook, according to a police report. The posts appeared that Vanderhagen was unhappy with the outcome of the case.

The Sheriff's Office report states there were multiple posts on Vanderhagen's page regarding Rancilio, many of them screen shots of her personal Facebook posts as well as items she had pinned on her Pinterest app.

There also were two videos and a post that it was time for him to speak about his personal experience of corruption in the Friend of the Court and how he believes his ex-girlfriend is responsible for their son's death.

One of the posts from July 8 reads: "Dada back to digging & you best believe im gonna dig up all the skeletons in this court's closet." There is a photo of Vanderhagen holding a shovel with the initials RR on the handle and MD on the shovel, with Families Of Corruption on his shirt, and the words: "The misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain." The Macomb County logo appears in the background.

According to the police report: "At no time does he threaten harm or violence toward Rancilio" or another person he identified as being involved. "However, he does appear to be very upset with them and feels they are to blame for not helping him."

A warrant charging Vanderhagen with the misdemeanor was authorized July 10. Vanderhagen was arraigned and posted 10% of a $10,000 bond.

On July 24, he returned for a pretrial. The prosecution had filed an emergency motion to raise Vanderhagen's bond for a violation after it said he continued to intimidate and harass those who filed the initial report by continuing to post about being mistreated by the system.

But Somberg argued that Vanderhagen "has an absolute constitutional right to redress his grievances against the government publically." He said Vanderhagen's posts are about his son, digging up the truth and exposing that he feels that has been wronged by the system.

"There's no threats. There's no reaching out to Judge Rancilio. There's been no contact. There's inadvertent messages. All the messages after the no contact are all very innocuous," he told the court.

But 41-B District Court Judge Sebastian Lucido disagreed.

Lucido stated there are limits to First Amendment and freedom of speech, saying in a court transcript: "There cannot be anything of a threatening nature. ... We're talking about threatening a sitting Circuit Court Judge is the original allegation against Mr. Vanderhagen. When there's a no contact, it's a no contact directly, indirectly or social media. These are all though he likes to hint around the fringes of it, in my opinion they are of a threatening nature after the no contact was put in place."

Lucido raised Vanderhagen's bond to $500,000 cash surety. Vanderhagen has been unable to post that bond.

Sgt. Renee Yax said the sheriff's office does not have a comment on the case against Vanderhagen.

Derek Miller, chief of operations for county Prosecutor Eric Smith, said: "We're not commenting on a pending matter that's scheduled for trial on Friday."

Messages were left at the offices of Rancilio; Lucido, and Circuit Court Chief Judge James Biernat Jr., who denied Vanderhagen's appeal of the higher bond last month.

On July 11, Biernat signed a personal protection order request that Rancilio filed in the circuit court against Vanderhagen. The order is in effect until Jan. 20, according to court records.

A 'very fine line'

Two local legal experts, who spoke in general terms, said a $500,000 bond is high for a misdemeanor.

"There's a First Amendment right to criticize judges. The real thing here is that this is excessive bail. The Michigan Constitution is very specific about that," said Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University.

Sedler cites Article 1, Section 16 of the state constitution that states, in part, that excessive bail shall not be required; excessive fines shall not be imposed, and cruel or unusual punishment shall not be inflicted.

Peter Henning, a Wayne State University professor and former federal prosecutor, who like Sedler didn't know of all the specifics of Vanderhagen's case, said there could be a First Amendment issue in the matter.

"We are allowed to criticize our officials. Now, you can't threaten someone or you can't go so far to harass them," Henning said, adding that it's often a "very fine line" between protected speech and what would rise to the level of harassment.

"That's not an easy line to draw," he said, adding it's not just about what people intend, but also "what would a reasonable person consider this to be — harassment or a threat?"

Henning said the $500,000 bond was "very substantial" for a misdemeanor. However, he said, "judges don't like to see their orders ignored. You don't ever want to anger a judge."

'He's ... been in tears'

Vanderhagen's case has garnered attention in the media and on social media. There is a change.org petition online in an effort to get Rancilio impeached, with more than 8,900 signatures Wednesday.

Deborah Vanderhagen said her son doesn't want to harm or kill anyone; he just wants those involved with his son's case to "recognize what they did wrong." She said compounding the situation is the two-year anniversary of Killian's death Sept. 22.

"It's really hitting him hard right now," she said of her son. "It hurts. I'm losing faith in the justice system."

Somberg said Vanderhagen channeled his grief for his son and spoke out on Facebook. He said his client is "literally exercising his First Amendment rights" and when one is a public official "you are less protected from people scrutinizing you."

"He's definitely been in tears over this," Somberg said of Vanderhagen. "He's doing this for his son, for justice for his son."

More:Uncle Kracker named in police complaint after altercation at Macomb County bar

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.