Meltdown moments for judges

Michigan judge Lisa Gorcyca (the last name means "mustard" in Russian, by the way), whose outrageous behavior towards three children I described before on this blog, here and here, is now begging the disciplinary authorities not to suspend her for 30 days, and is using very interesting arguments to justify her begging.

She is, first, asserting a judge's right to a "meltdown" on the bench - claiming that her outrageous behavior, with multiple violations of the very basic constitutional rights of children - to counsel, to a hearing, to due process, to not be locked up for refusing to see their father because reportedly they were afraid of him - was just "one instance" of "lapse of judgment" in her otherwise stellar record.

That means that Gorcyca impliedly recognizes that there was a lapse of judgment.

Yet, at the same time, Gorcyca's lawyers were reportedly arguing that her behavior (the very same which she recognized was "a meltdown" and at least one instance of a lapse of judgment) received "more national praise than outrage".

Moreover, Gorcyca accepted a standing ovation from lawyers in her court after a finding of misconduct was made last July - behavior which clearly does not correspond with remorse.

Discipline of judges in this country, or rather, lack thereof, does not fail to amaze me.

At the worst - and that's what Gorcyca is trying to prevent, arguing about her "right to a meltdown" - she is looking at a 30-day suspension, losing about $11,000 in salary and having to pay $12,000 in fines and court costs.

Yet, for what she did - unlawfully incarcerated children after intimidating and humiliating them in court, without any legal basis for either humiliating or intimidating them, or locking them up - she clearly should have been taken off the bench and disbarred.  That was not a "legal error".  That was not a "lapse in judgment".  That was a clear evidence of a character flaw and unfitness for the bench.

Does a judge have a right to a meltdown on the bench?

Sure.

One time.

After which that judge should be taken off the bench for good, so that those meltdowns would not happen again.

If Gorcyca is left on the bench, that is leaving a time bomb on the bench, which judicial disciplinary authorities know will go off, sooner or later.

If Gorcyca, a longtime attorney, longtime prosecutor and longtime judge, cannot discipline herself not to lash out in "frustration" against the most vulnerable and helpless people in front of her, children, she is hopeless and clearly unfit for the bench.

Take her off, for good, so that her "meltdowns" do not affect other people in such drastic ways.