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Michigan Judge Files Petition Against Misconduct Finding

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) — A suburban Detroit judge has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn findings of misconduct against her in a rancorous custody case.

The Oakland Press reported Friday that attorneys for Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca filed a petition in late December asking the high court to reject the findings of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.

The commission recommended public censure and a 30-day suspension without pay after Gorcyca sent three Bloomfield Hills siblings ages 9-15 to juvenile detention for not speaking to their estranged father and refusing to have lunch with him.

Gorcyca declared the children — ages 9, 10 and 15 — in civil contempt of court during a hearing in June 2015. The children were taken into custody and hauled off to Children's Village after declining to have lunch with their father.

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 a common ground.

At a 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.

"I've never seen anything like this," Gorcyca said during the 2015 hearing. "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."

Gorcyca's attorneys argue her actions were stern and harsh but not misconduct. They say those actions followed several attempts to get the children to participate in parenting time.

About 200 lawyers have signed a letter supporting Gorcyca.

 

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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