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Bar honors judge

He is called a role model for his work with at-risk black teens.

By JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer
Published January 8, 2008

Every year, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Michael F. Andrews brings fellow African-American judges and dozens of at-risk youths together for a day of plain talk and encouragement.

In sessions called "Judicial Forums," Andrews aims to get the black teenagers acquainted with the legal system. He also hopes the young men will see positive role models in the black men on the panel who found ways to overcome their own disadvantages and become judges.

Andrews, 44, tells of growing up in a tough neighborhood in South Florida, seeing drug-dealing and knowing friends who were killed - but also of going to Florida State University and pursuing a career in law.

"One of the problems that I see is we spend a lot of time blaming our failure to succeed on obstacles," said Andrews, a family law judge who hears cases in Clearwater.

"I'm not prepared to accept as an excuse that, 'A police officer wasn't nice to me,' " Andrews said. "Everybody has it tough, but you have to achieve."

Now, for his work organizing the forums and mentoring at Pinellas middle schools since 1992, Andrews won the Florida Bar's "Distinguished Judicial Service Award" on Monday.

Since 2004, the Bar has recognized just one judge from around the state each year for his or her pro-bono work in the community. The Bar called Andrews "an exemplary role model for the youth of Florida, especially those in the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay area.

The Bar also recognizes the pro-bono work of a lawyer, a law firm, a Bar association and a young lawyer.

The highest award is the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award. This year's winner is Sylvia H. Walbolt, a shareholder in the law firm of Carlton Fields in Tampa.

Andrews holds the forums in partnership with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Andrews and the other judges tell the youths about their own background and what they had to overcome to succeed.

His father was a Bahamian immigrant who worked as a custodian, Andrews said. His mother worked as a maid.

Andrews grew up in a rough neighborhood near Homestead in South Florida.

"There was prostitution, drug dealing, murder," said Andrews, who has lived in Pinellas County for 17 years with his wife and four children. "I can think of two friends who were murdered."

After an accident left his father disabled, Andrews said his parents raised him and seven siblings on public assistance.

He was a "troublemaker" in elementary school who failed second and fourth grade and got kicked out of fifth, Andrews said.

But he got his act together and graduated from Homestead High School. At Florida State University, he got a bachelor's degree in 1985 and his law degree in 1991.

Andrews began the judicial forums in Pinellas County, but he has held similar sessions in Orlando, Daytona Beach and Miami.

Besides acting as role models, the judges from around the state Andrews has recruited talk bluntly about many issues affecting African-American youth.

The topics range from how to stay out of the courthouse to passing the FCAT to respecting themselves, their families communities and becoming mentors.

One judge drafted by Andrews for the forums is Hillsborough County Judge Eric R. Myers, who grew up the son of teachers in Haines City. As a young man, Myers toiled in the orange groves and other odds jobs.

At the forums, Myers emphasizes the importance of education.

"You deal with the circumstances that you have," said Myers, 51.

"But you should always say, 'Can I do better? Is there something more for me?' "

One teen-ager who attended the forum last year was Almeen Hazard of St. Petersburg.

"I now realize that if I don't become a rapper or an athlete, I still can make it to college," Hazard, then 16, said after the forum. "I can be a teacher or a lawyer."

Myers nominated Andrews for the award. Since 2001, Myers pointed out, Andrews has volunteered 1,000 hours.

Among the work, Andrews mails letters to churches and other organizations. He has also drafted law enforcement agencies and other professionals.

Andrews has also participated in the Pinellas County School District's "5,000 Role Models of Excellence" for 15 years.

He has mentored students at Largo, Kennedy, Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs middle schools for 15 years.

The mentoring "gives our young men an opportunity to see an African-American male who has excelled as a result of a college education," said Janice Barge Clark, an assistant principal at Largo Middle School. "Their dreams don't have to be just dreams."

Florida Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis will give Andrews the Award on Jan. 31 during a special ceremony at the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee.

"I consider myself fortunate, but I'm on the shoulders of a lot of people," said Andrews. "Someone created a path for me. I really feel an obligation to be involved."

Jose Cardenas can be reached at jcardenas@sptimes.com or 727 445-4224.

FAST FACTS:

Judge Michael F. Andrews

Background: Raised near Homestead, south of Miami, by a Bahamian immigrant father who worked as a custodian and a mother who worked as a maid.

Education: Florida State University bachelor's degree in 1987 and law degree in 1991.

Judicial service: Was Florida's youngest judge when he was appointed county judge in 1997. Has served as a circuit judge since 2003.

[Last modified January 7, 2008, 21:19:07]