Children have human rights. While in almost all cases, the right to free association cannot be one of those rights, especially where their own parents are concerned, a rare exception must be made for children whose parents are violently abusive.  This is true even if the violence is directed not against the children, but against another adult (an elder, another parent) in the home.  Children who've seen their father assault their mother (or vice versa) should NEVER be forced to choose between juvenile detention and forced visits with an unrepentant abuser.  When the children are boys, and they want to reject domestic violence by a man against a woman (their mother), this serves a tremendous public good -- breaking the cycle of abuse.

Judge Lisa Gorcyca doesn't share this view. She thinks that a child that the law says is old enough to decline parental visits should have to see an abusive parent anyway, or go to JAIL.  The other children in the case may be too young to have that right, but the eldest is 15.  The other two children are at developmental stages (at 9 and 10) advanced enough that their wishes in this case at least deserve real consideration.  Instead, this judge ignored things like human rights, the actual law and common sense; she sent the eldest of three children to detention for declining contact with his mother's abuser and compared him to CHARLES MANSON.  She also threatened a 9-year-old girl saying:

“You want to have your birthdays in Children’s Village [juvenile detention]? Do you like going to the bathroom in front of people? Is your bed soft and comfortable at home? I’ll tell you this, if you two don’t have a nice lunch with your dad and make this up to your dad, you’re going to come back here (after lunch) and I’m going to have the deputies take you to Children’s Village.”

No one should have to chose jail or talking to someone who beat their mother.  No judge should threaten a 9-year-old that way, ever.  The lack of understanding of the law here is also deplorable.  This judge needs to be removed, and our legislature -- and the Supreme Court in Lansing -- should defend these innocents and others by removing Judge Gorcyca IMMEDIATELY.