Complaint filed against judge who sent kids to juvie for refusing lunch with their dad

A complaint has been filed against Oakland County judge Lisa O. Gorcyca, who over the summer sent three siblings to a juvenile detention center after they refused to have lunch with their father. 

Let's back up for a moment.

For the past five years Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni, a pediatric eye doctor known for her research on glaucoma, and Omer Tsimhoni, a traffic safety researcher and GM engineer who conducts work in Israel, have been in a long, tedious and somewhat messy custody battle involving their three children (aged 9, 11 and 14). 
 
Over the summer Judge Gorcyca sent the kids to Children's Village, a juvenile detention center in Waterford, which houses  200 juvenile offenders. She did so after the children refused to have lunch with their father, which she found in contempt of her court ordered mandate that they "have a healthy relationship with your father."

According to the Detroit Free Press the eldest son was sentenced to the juvenile detention center first. The convo went something like this: 

The oldest boy told the judge during the hearing that he apologized for "whatever I did to you."

"But I do not apologize for — for not talking to him because I have a reason for that and that's because he's violent and he — I saw him hit my mom and I'm not gonna talk to him," the boy said, later telling the judge, "I didn't do anything wrong."

"No, you did," Gorcyca replied. "You — 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 am finding you guilty of civil contempt."

The younger siblings were then given the opportunity, once again, to have lunch with their dad. They said no thanks.

Back to the Freep: 

"I'll go with my brother then," the 10-year-old told the judge.

Speaking about the children to their mother, Dr. Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni, Gorcyca was vehement.

"Your children — you need to do a research program on Charlie Manson and the cult that he has. Your behavior in the hall with me months ago, your behavior in this courtroom ... is unlike anything I've ever seen in 46,000 cases," said Gorcyca, who has a young son and is known for her normally pleasant demeanor in court.

Before the kids were handcuffed and sent off to the juvenile detention center — and their mother was explicitly told she could not visit them — the judge continued to weigh in on the situation.

"Your dad is a good man. And wipe that smirk off your face," Gorcyca said to the 10-year-old, as both he and his sister defied the judge's order to have lunch with their dad.

Anyway after a stint in juvie the judge sent them to summer camp, and then a multi-day reconciliation treatment program with Omer, their father. That ended, in August, with them moving in with their dad. It's unclear how that's going, however, their mother has filed a motion to have Gorcyca removed from the case saying she is unfairly biased to her ex-husband.

Adding to this whole story is the new complaint against Gorcyca. On Tuesday the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission issued a formal complaint against Judge Gorcyca for her handling of the custody battle, as well as for allegedly making false statements to the Judicial Tenure Commission about the case. 
You can read the full complaint here.