Craig DeThomasis
Craig DeThomasis’ job can be life or death — one day his client’s life could be on the line and another he could be presiding over an adoption.
The 60-year-old criminal defense attorney has practiced for 35 years in the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Now, he’s running for Alachua County judge because of his desire to ensure justice in a higher capacity. As of the most recent reporting period, DeThomasis collected $79,995 in monetary and nonmonetary donations, according to campaign finance records.
“I found an ability and a passion for that kind of work,” DeThomasis said. “It’s because of my bar card that I can make life-changing experiences for everyone, and it doesn’t get better than that.”
When he wasn’t playing with his garage band in the ‘70s, he was collecting newspaper clips of historical moments like Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination and the Vietnam War. DeThomasis said he views the world with the goal of providing for others.
DeThomasis said his business model was built on the qualities of being a successful judge: respect, thorough research and an exact knowledge of the law.
“Helping those people resolve their conflicts, it’s just a part of my commitment to the community,” DeThomasis said.
Originally from Long Island, New York, DeThomasis moved to Gainesville at 17 with a Foot Locker box full of classic rock mixtapes in hand and, 42 years later, never left. As an undergraduate at UF, DeThomasis had a job lined up in Manhattan with a lucrative corporate law firm, but he turned it down for a job at the public defender’s office because of his passion to practice trial law.
Today, he still practices criminal defense at the law firm DeThomasis & Buchanan with his managing partner, Michael Buchanan, with whom he’s worked since 1982.
“He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t need training,” Buchanan said. “He’s a natural.”
DeThomasis, who also teaches at the Levin College of Law as adjunct lecturer of trial practice law, has held up his bar card, his license to practice law, in front of his students and told them it comes great responsibility when people’s lives are at stake.
If elected as Alachua County judge, DeThomasis said his extensive background in trial law and county court will prepare him for the role. He said he will hold lawyers to the highest standards.
“(A) person who serves in that role should be absolutely, without any doubt be committed to the rule of law,” DeThomasis said. “To me, it’s the utmost respect in the profession.”
Contact Alyssa Ramos at aramos@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @LysKRamos
Meshon Rawls
Meshon Rawls grew up watching injustices and the community riot around her in Miami.
Rawls, 47, got her first taste of law when she took a criminal justice class at Miami Carol City High School when she was about 16.
Nearly 30 years after participating in her high school’s mock trial event, Rawls is running to be an Alachua County judge to preside on civil and criminal cases. Rawls collected $65,066 of monetary and nonmonetary donations, according to campaign finance records.
In 1993, Rawls graduated UF with a bachelor degree in criminal justice, and in 1998 she graduated from the Levin College of Law, she said.
Rawls worked at the public defender’s office in the Eighth Judicial Circuit as an assistant public defender for seven years, she said.
In the juvenile division, Rawls wanted to do more to prevent children from entering the criminal justice system. In 2006, she became the director of Gator TeamChild at the Levin College of Law, a full-service law firm for children that addresses both their legal and social needs. She teaches law students how to practice and represent children through the program.
“When I just think about the work that I do, I guess I don’t think about what it means for me,” she said. “I just think our children having a voice and someone speaking up on their behalf is my job.”
In Gator TeamChild, Rawls advocated for a child who was placed in a group home where he was happy but didn’t have the mental health services he needed. Instead of switching him, Rawls found services he could be transported to and the child thrived, said Tiffany Castellanos, 41, a former Gator TeamChild social worker.
“No other adult in his life listened to what he wanted, and nobody thought he knew what was best,” Castellanos said. “Even we had our doubts, but we remembered what our responsibility was and that was to represent his wishes.”
It is natural for Rawls to help the community, said her husband Ron Rawls, 52. She serves in organizations such as the Pace Center for Girls and Project Turnaround.
“She deals with the common person on the daily basis, and that’s going to help when she becomes a judge because she’s not so distant from the everyday struggle of everyday people,” he said.
Rawls respects humanity and knows the law, he said.
“Meshon has a compassion and concern for people to see their humanity and see they were treated fairly and given respect in the process.”
Contact Christina Morales at cmorales@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @Christina_M18
DeThomasis, left, Rawls, right
