UPDATE: I fixed the Headline on this diary as best as possible. The judge involved revised her decision about an hour ago and sent the children to a Jewish camp rather than the juvenile detention shelter, which is great for the kids.
This one's a head shaker. The Tsimhoni (pronounced Tiphonie) divorce and ongoing custody battle is a messy affair spanning over five years and two countries. Lots of issues with parents behaving badly with lots of unproven allegations and some possible (probable?) gaslighting going on. There are lots of trust issues. Mom is being portrayed as hysterical and manipulative. The father has hired a PR firm (to manipulate people in a more acceptable manner?). It's an ugly story. It went off the cliff when the judge overseeing the reunification of the children with their father ordered the children to have a "healthy relationship" with their father. That order went as well as anyone should have expected and now when a lot of children are going to camp, these children are in the shelter portion of a juvenile detention facility and are limited to only seeing their father, their therapists or their attorney until they can prove they have a "healthy relationship" with their father. BTW, their father went back to his home in Israel. The next court date is set for September. Yes, you read that correctly, September.
Where the hell is the ACLU on this?
This is what happens when children PO a judge.
Exasperated Family Court Judge, Lisa Gorcyca ordered the children to have lunch with their father. Not a problem for a healthy family or even a family with problems, but it's a serious impediment to this dysfunctioning family. It didn't happen. The judge ordered a hearing on June 24th to give the children a final chance to comply with the court order. The children didn't cooperate again. The children chose JV over their father. The judge insulted the children, said they were brain washed and blamed the mother from the bench. The judge also stated in court that it would be the father to declare if and when the relationship became "healthy". The transripts of the children's attorneys is less than impressive and I'm left with, "Wow!" How is that reunifying? How is that ever going to heal? Anyway, you can read the June 24th transcript here and I recommend reading the entire thing.
How the judge got to this showdown is a long storied affair. The father got a job in Israel in 2008 and wanted the family to live there (the birth place of both Mom and Dad). Mom didn't like living in Israel and took the children back to Michigan in 2009 without Israeli court approval (which she would likely never get in Israel without Dad's approval). She started divorce proceedings in Michigan (which can't happen without Dad's approval either had she initiated a divorce in Israel). The Federal Court in Detroit found neither parent credible, but that the "children were not present in Israel long enough to establish it as their habitual residence". The divorce is final. The children live in the U. S.
Since then, Dad remarried in Israel and has another (two year old) son with his new wife. Dad comes back every June to see his children. He wants to know the date of his son's Bar Mitzvah (I suspect there isn't going to be one or it's done already). Mom is antagonistic. The children do not text, email, skype or communicate with their father and haven't since February 2015. There is no doubt the Mom has bad talked the father, but there's also little doubt Dad has blown his stack and made threats, too. This year's visits aren't successful and Dad blames Mom for years of turning the children against him. Dad has always paid his child support payments. Dad also has a PR firm dedicated to making sure he's seen in a sympathetic light. There are multiple experts convinced to diagnose his children with Parental Alienation Syndrome (which is not an official diagnosis code and is put into an unspecified category of V61.9 that includes "Family Maladjustment").
There is no way to discern from the news reports the rights and wrongs of the various parties of this family, but I don't buy that it's all one party's fault. Even if everything the father is saying is true, it doesn't excuse Judge Gorcyca's abuse of her power. The August 2010 incident of the visit in the park is not clear and maybe the children don't have it right, but there's no doubt, the children don't trust their Dad.In 2014 a 25 page report to the court recommended the court do something "draconian" to get these children to have a dialog and an eventual relationship with their father. The record does show cause for counseling interventions and that's good, but to punish the children for not progressing on the court's schedule is not acceptable.
The court ordered situations where the children were to talk with their father. For whatever reason, these meetings failed. The showdown hearing has the children being polite, but resolute. The judge found the the children in contempt and put them into detention until they will behave as she has decreed. If the children didn't hold the courts in contempt before, I bet they do now. I am also skeptical of the father's intentions as he allowed his children to be taken to a juvenile shelter. I wonder what Judge Gorcyca's rationale is for forcing a family into a functional status. To me, this isn't about love or family, it's about power and who can be the biggest dick. There is no winner here.
How is this acceptable? We employ family courts to resolve issues, not create them.
It's a very disturbing court decree. I hope an adult intervenes soon.
2:02 PM PT: Here are two pertinent petitions
To call for Tsimhoni children to be freed, go here:
https://www.change.org/...
To call for Judge Lisa Gorcya to be removed, go here: http://www.ipetitions.com/...
2:15 PM PT: In a late decision after 4pm today. Judge Gorcyca decided the children need to go to camp rather than detention. Good for her. Thanks for the info Philpm and jfromga.
http://www.freep.com/...
http://wonkette.com/...
http://www.wxyz.com/...