Miami-Dade judicial candidate Joe Perkins misrepresents Editorial Board’s intent | Editorial

Judicial candidate Joe Perkins, a candidate in the race for Miami-Dade District Court, Group 55, has twisted our words in an email ad sent to Miami-Dade voters.

We need to call him out.

Perkins’s ad is right: He “did not get the endorsement” from the Miami Herald.

And he’s correct, too, that our recommendation said that, “He would be a judge favored by attorneys, prosecutors and public defenders.”

But he takes those words out of context, presenting them as a compliment when our complete paragraph made clear that it was not meant as praise.

The ad’s offending sentence says, in part: “We are grateful for this recognition of our broad and diverse support . . .”

In truth, our recommendation said: “Perkins, a commercial litigator with Garbett, Allen & Roza who has been practicing law for 13 years, would be a judge favored by attorneys, prosecutors and public defenders. ‘I’ve talked to many attorneys and what they want is a present, thoughtful judge ready to roll up their sleeve and work weekends to be prepared,’ Perkins told the Board, seldom mentioning defendants during his chat.”

And that was our concern — that defendants and others in the court system would come in second in his courtroom.

That is why the Editorial Board ultimately recommended Perkins’ challenger, Olanike “Nike’’ Adebayo for Miami-Dade District Court, Group 55. As she told us: “I am a public servant, not a politician.”