In a child custody case that made national headlines after a suburban Detroit judge jailed three children for refusing to socialize with their father, the Michigan Supreme Court has rejected a harsher punishment recommended last year — ruling that Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca should be publicly censured but not suspended for her courtroom behavior.
The high court said Friday that Gorcyca committed judicial misconduct by “directing demeaning and disparaging remarks” at the children during a hearing, but that other findings of misconduct by the Judicial Tenure Commission amounted to “mere legal errors made in good faith and with due diligence,” which were remedied by the appeals court.
“Public censure was proportionate to” Gorcyca’s “misconduct,” the court ruled. [Read Full Article]