Judge Accused Of Misconduct Withdraws From Child Custody Case
PONTIAC, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A metro Detroit judge who sent three siblings to juvenile detention for refusing to meet with their estranged father has removed herself from the case.
Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca issued an opinion Monday withdrawing herself because the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission accused her of misconduct. She wrote that she isn't biased toward or against anyone, but her "continued assignment may create an appearance of impropriety."
The judicial watchdog filed the ethics complaint earlier this month. In the formal ethics complaint, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission said Gorcyca failed to respect the law and act in a patient, dignified and courteous manner. In addition, the commission accused the judge of making misrepresentations, or false statements in an earlier letter.
Gorcyca had been presiding over a nasty custody dispute involving the parents of three children. In July, she found the siblings -- who are 14, 11 and 9 -- in contempt and sent them to juvenile detention for refusing to have lunch with their dad. Following widespread publicity, the kids were released after two weeks and sent to summer camp. They are now living with their father.
Gorcyca has called the case one of the worst she's ever seen of parental alienation, where one parent poisons the minds of the kids against the other, even comparing the children to the Charles Manson cult.
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