Legendary Miami Juvenile Court Judge Tom Petersen passed away Friday. He was 80 years old.
They do not make them like Tom Petersen anymore. He was the type of judge, the type of man, that did not let bureaucrats, or legal niceties stand in the way of helping and protecting the children of Miami. He was not the type of judge to shrug his shoulders at an injustice and say that he just calls balls and strikes. He was the type of judge who saw a wrong and righted it. He was the type of judge who would take off his robe, roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty.
Judge Petersen would not just read reports on how a child was doing; he would get in his car and visit the home. As the Miami Herald reported, he once took a child to a Marlin’s game as a reward for completing his assigned community service. He would dress up as Santa for Christmas and deliver toys to children. He was a judge, but he was so much more. A humanitarian; a ceaseless advocate for juvenile justice and the rights of children.
Judge Petersen, both a former public defender and a former prosecutor, used the grand jury process to investigate wrongs and help right them. One of the first pre-trial diversion programs in the US? Tom Petersen developed the program and saw it instituted in Miami. Have a client whose case was dismissed after PTI? Thank Tom Petersen. That program alone benefited — a hundred thousand Miamians? Maybe more.
What people who knew Tom Petersen closest will tell you is that he used the law and courts to make society a better place. And he did it exceptionally well. Judge Petersen comes from a time when Judges worked to make a difference in the world we all live in. From a time when Judges carried the ball of desegregation over the goal line; a time long gone, replaced by judges who believe that they are empowered to do little, and solve less. Judge Petersen was the antithesis of a conservative judicial philosophy. He lived his life believing he was empowered to try and make the world a better place. As we said, they don’t make judges like Tom Petersen anymore, and unfortunately that is by design.
Miami owes a debt of thanks to Tom Petersen that will never be fully recognized or repaid. We are all better for the life he lived.
Here is the Herald Obit- spend a few moments and read about this remarkable man.