Justice from Buttermilk Bottom

Tampa and the legal profession lost one of its most colorful characters this week. Judge Bob Mitcham died at the too young age of 76.

I had the good fortune to have met Judge Mitcham when one of my legal professors invited him to address our criminal law class. Mitcham was a down-to-earth man who truly cared about the law and showed a great interest in us as students of law. He talked about the book that he had written and that had just been published, Justice from Buttermilk Bottom.

I eventually bought a copy of the book, and reading it was that much more enjoyable after hearing him tell us some of his stories. Judge Mitcham talked about growing up in a nasty part of Atlanta and some of the more sensational trials that he presided over.

When Lawrence Singleton appeared before him (Singleton was the one who raped a young girl, then chopped off her forearms and left her for dead) I was impressed by his restraint in not coming down from the bench and cutting this piece of trash "long, deep, and forever." It was also amusing to read about some people that I had come across in my life as well as some of the more notorious citizens from Tampa's past.

The miscreants in hell should thank their lucky stars that Mitcham went in the opposite direction. I think that Judge Mitcham would have made hell the "mother of all hells" for the doers of evil.

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