Manatee County Court Judge: Melissa Gould

These questionnaire responses were originally published in July for the primary election.

Name: Melissa Gould

Age: 38

Family: Dr. Ryan Jawitz, Aaron (7), Norah (4)

Biography/Why I’m running for this judgeship:  

Through a lot of hard work and perseverance in high school, I was offered academic and athletic scholarships, but my passion and one of the driving forces in my life has always been giving back to my community. In my teen years I won major awards for volunteerism and leadership, but while the honors were nice (and humbling) to receive, the real satisfaction for me was in building and strengthening my community and/or helping disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups.

I was on the Dean’s List as an undergraduate university student, and then I chose to pursue my legal studies at the City University of New York because it was and is considered by many to be the premier public interest law school in the country. While I was at CUNY, I interned with a New York Supreme Court Judge, and it was one of the most exhilarating learning experiences of my life. Since that time, my professional goal has been to serve on the bench, and I’ve tried to strategically manage my career to prepare myself for that role.

After graduating from law school close to the top of my class, I decided to further my education by attending the University of Cambridge in the U.K., one of the most prestigious universities in the world where I received a Master of Law degree. When I returned to the Tampa Bay area, I met my future husband, Ryan Jawitz, and moved to Michigan with him for three years, so he could complete his residency in dermatology. While in Michigan, I worked in civil litigation, business and contract law as well as consumer protection. I also taught law courses in family law, constitutional law and judicial process at Oakland University. In addition, I volunteered at the University of Michigan’s highly regarded Innocence Clinic and worked on cases to help exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners.

Ryan grew up in Manatee County and his parents, Dr. Jack Jawitz and Dr. Paula Brooks Jawitz, have spent more than 35 years in this area, so it was an easy decision for us to move back here and make this exceptional community our "forever" home.

Driven by my strong desire to give a voice to victims and serve the community as well as keeping in mind my goal of becoming a judge, to help further prepare me for that position, I applied for and became an assistant state attorney in the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes Manatee County. For the past several years I’ve had the honor and privilege of successfully serving our community as a misdemeanor, felony and special intake prosecutor, and I’ve handled cases involving the following: sexual battery, domestic violence, child abuse, exploitation of the elderly, trafficking and selling narcotics, driving under the influence, white collar crime, burglary and animal cruelty.

The list of legal and criminal matters I’ve worked on goes on and on, but no matter who I’m interacting with, I know that I’m representing the people of Florida, and I always endeavor to demonstrate the enduring values of honesty and integrity and to treat everyone with fairness and respect. I feel especially compelled to show my empathy and compassion to the victims of crime. Those characteristics are also invaluable in some of the volunteer jobs I’m currently doing. I work with that great organization, Meals on Wheels, on a weekly basis, and during this pandemic I regularly call several isolated seniors just to say hi and see if they need any help.  

In addition to all of the regular issues in the judicial system, the impact of COVID-19 and the other challenges in the country have created new challenges for our courts and elsewhere.  We need strategic thinking, innovative ideas and a commitment to problem-solving to deal with our ever-changing legal environment and the new "new normals" that seem to be emerging every day. As I indicated above, giving back is in my DNA, and I’m hoping to continue on that journey as the next Manatee County Court Judge. I believe my knowledge, skills, experience and values have ideally prepared me for this very important role.

What qualifies you to be a county court judge more than your opponents?

It might be technically acceptable, but I don’t believe it’s within the spirit of the Judicial Canons (Rules) of the State of Florida for opposing candidates campaigning for judge to compare themselves to one and other. As a result, I’m just going to list some of the factors that I think combine to make me uniquely and extremely well qualified for this position:

A lot of people strongly believe that I have the intellect, temperament and commitment to the law to be an exceptionally effective jurist, and I was encouraged by a large number of individuals to pursue this position. Since announcing my intentions to run, I’ve received very broad-based support for my campaign from almost every demographic group in Manatee County. In addition, I’ve secured many endorsements, but I’ve made the decision not to publish them. When elected, I plan to run my courtroom like I’m running my campaign, fair and unbiased. I do not want to show an appearance of impropriety or that I have an alliance with a group or unit of government that would likely come before me as a judge.  

I have a diverse legal resume, and I’m a seasoned litigator who has prosecuted thousands of cases for the people of this community and sent violent and habitual predators to prison. My experience is not just limited to giving a voice to victims though as I’ve also done criminal defense work. Additionally, I’ve worked in civil litigation and have had a broad array of experiences in the areas of business and contract law, consumer protection, discrimination actions against employers and malpractice suits against professionals. Furthermore, I’ve done pro bono legal work for nonprofit organizations. 

Despite being offered higher paying positions, since returning to Florida I’ve dedicated my career to public service and have served the community very effectively as an assistant state attorney handling a wide spectrum of cases.

The crime rate in the 12th Judicial Circuit has gone down significantly during my time in the State Attorney’s Office.  This is due in significant part to an array of collaborative efforts among the SAO, law enforcement and several community partners. I’ve played a meaningful role in those efforts by regularly leading or participating in educational programs on a variety of topics for law enforcement and different community agencies.  

I was designated by the Florida Supreme Court to assist the Office of Statewide Prosecution (a department of the Office of the Attorney General of Florida) to work on a multijurisdictional, complex elderly exploitation case that secured a guilty verdict.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Florida honored me with a Recognition of Excellence award for my work prosecuting impaired driving. 

I have a J.D. and also a higher legal degree. My LL.M thesis at Cambridge focused on constitutional law and criminal procedure in the U.S. and Canada, and I graduated with distinction.

I’ve taught university courses in different areas of the law, and I believe if you want to truly understand something, the best way to do so is to teach it. Consequently, in addition to all of my practical experience, I also have a very strong theoretical grasp of the law and how to apply it.

I interned for a judge and gained invaluable experience in drafting decisions for him and also getting a first-hand, behind-the-scenes perspective on the range of issues that came before the court.

My long and rich history in the volunteer world combined with my professional experience has resulted in me dealing with very diverse people in very diverse contexts, and I’m skilled and comfortable working with people of every race, religion, ethnicity, culture and socio-economic status who may come before the bench.  

In addition to serving on committees and boards of nonprofit organizations as well as doing the front-line volunteer work I referenced earlier, I’ve also participated in helping to write grant proposals to different levels of government and private foundations over the past several years that generated approximately one and a half million dollars. This skill set is particularly relevant to my judicial aspirations. Manatee County and other communities periodically secure outside funding to initiate specialty and/or problem-solving judicial initiatives to help reduced recidivism or support victims or save taxpayer dollars.  

What do you consider to be essential characteristics of a good judge?

Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. was, among many other roles, a writer, a philosopher, a postmaster, a scientist, an inventor, a humorist and a diplomat, and over the course of his life he said many poignant and memorable things, but his quote that resonates the most with me is, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” I believe this statement can be interpreted in different ways, but one of the things it means to me is that it’s critical that judges recognize that, to different degrees, many of their decisions affect almost everyone in the community — whether they know it or not — and that’s an important insight that all jurists should recognize.  

Judges are the pillars of the justice system and as such must strive for the highest standards of integrity in both their personal lives and on the bench. In their cornerstone role, judges must also have a very deep understanding of the law and the ability and willingness to undertake sophisticated legal research as well as be able to write decisions clearly, concisely and promptly.

In addition, an effective judge must have sound judgement and make informed decisions based on all the evidence presented. Furthermore, those decisions must be able to withstand intense scrutiny, always be above reproach and not be contaminated by extraneous factors.

Finally, it should go without saying that jurists should be problem-solvers, resourceful, fair, open-minded and good listeners but also have the ability to ask probative questions that can get to the heart of any legal issue. Of course, anyone sitting on the bench needs to have a pleasant, calm temperament and always treat everyone with impartiality and respect as well as compassion and empathy when appropriate. It’s also important to realize though that a judge might have to be firm and not allow any nonsense in her courtroom when it’s necessary to rein in a disrespectful litigant or unruly lawyer.  

When elected, I promise to always strive to embody these foundational elements and ideals. 

Describe your courtroom trial experience:

As mentioned earlier, while I was in law school, I had the good fortune of interning for a judge, and I had the responsibility of observing evidentiary hearings and trials and then drafting opinions for the judge. I also spent a semester interning at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and I helped the lawyers there prepare for cases concerning professional misconduct. As a result, I gained very valuable courtroom experience even before being a licensed attorney.

After graduating, I worked in civil litigation and represented clients in insurance litigation, business and contract law, homeowner disputes, consumer protection and many other matters.

My most important and impactful courtroom experience has been having the honor of giving a voice to victims and representing the people of the state of Florida as an assistant state attorney in the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes Manatee County. During that time I’ve handled literally thousands of cases, including jury trials where I was lead counsel or second chair, nonjury trails and adversarial hearings.

I’ve prosecuted a wide range of misdemeanor and felony cases (as referenced earlier in the Biography/Why I’m running for judge section). I’m pleased to say that I’ve had a very high success rate; helped victims get the justice and compensation they deserved; and served as a calm, skilled problem-solver and assisted in diplomatically de-escalating many potentially explosive situations.

I was also designated by the Florida Supreme Court to assist the Office of Statewide Prosecution (a department of the Office of the Attorney General of Florida) to work on a multijurisdictional, complex elderly exploitation case that secured a guilty verdict.

I’m proud that I’ve both formally and informally mentored several younger attorneys and helped them in various ways as well as assisting them with their trials. I believe I’ve done a very good job in that regard, but even more important than teaching them trial techniques and strategy, I’ve reinforced how critical it is to be open-minded and always treat everyone with respect and fairness. These are bedrock values of the profession of law and essential elements of the judiciary.