Former ACLU deputy director files to run against longtime Miami-Dade State Attorney

Melba Pearson, the former deputy director of Miami’s American Civil Liberties Union, is challenging longtime incumbent Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle.

Pearson, who spent 16 years as a Miami-Dade prosecutor, filed paperwork Thursday to run against her former boss.

Her entry into the race was no surprise. For months, rumors had swirled in South Florida’s legal community that Pearson would run in hopes of capitalizing on nationwide calls for criminal-justice reform.

Pearson, 46, officially started her campaign after a political committee, Real Reform for Miami-Dade, formed to back a challenger to oust the longtime top prosecutor.

“I will bring a fresh approach to criminal-justice reform,” Pearson said on Thursday night. “I will bring bail reform, juvenile-justice reforms and other types of reforms that will keep our community safe and save taxpayers money in the long run.”

Both Fernández Rundle and Pearson are Democrats and will square off in the August primary. No Republicans have joined the race; if one does, he or she would face the Democratic candidate in November.

“I welcome the opportunity to have a robust conversation with Miami-Dade voters this election year on my unwavering commitment to keep our communities safe and continue to advance important criminal justice reforms,” Fernández Rundle said in a statement on Thursday.

In her statement, the incumbent pointed to her own record on initiatives designed to keep people out of jail, including through civil-citations programs and courts designed for people with addiction and mental-health problems.

“Since the day I was sworn in as State Attorney, my promise has been to achieve justice for victims and prosecute those who do great harm to our residents,” she said.

Fernández Rundle, 69, is an entrenched and well-known politician in Miami-Dade.

She was first appointed in 1993 to replace Janet Reno, who left for Washington, D.C., to become the U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton. Fernández Rundle has won four contested elections, the last in 2012, when she defeated defense lawyer Rod Vereen in the Democratic primary.

But in recent years, Fernández Rundle has come under scrutiny for her office’s handling of certain high-profile cases, including those of police officers accused of excessive force or misconduct.

In September, the Smart on Crime Innovations Conference apologized for asking Fernández Rundle to speak on a panel about how the justice system deals with people with disabilities. The conference appeared to be reacting to Twitter critics ripping Fernández Rundle for not charging prison officers in the death of Darren Rainey, a mentally ill inmate at Dade Corrections Institution who died after being left in a hot shower for nearly two hours.

Pearson last month also criticized Fernández Rundle over her office’s decision to not charge Hialeah Police Officer Jesus Menocal Jr., who is accused of sexual misconduct. The FBI, which was referred the case by Miami-Dade prosecutors, arrested Menocal on allegations of civil rights violations.

The State Attorney’s Office has defended its handling of the case, saying it referred the case to the feds because there wasn’t enough evidence “to ethically file state sexual assault charges.”

Pearson and Fernández Rundle know each other well.

A graduate of Hofstra University School of Law, Pearson worked in 1997 and 1998 as a certified legal intern with the State Attorney’s Office, then returned as a prosecutor in 2002.

During her time at the office, Pearson worked prosecuting domestic-violence crimes, then relaunching a Community Prosecution Unit, intended to “find creative solutions to prevent crime and provide outreach,” according to her bio. Pearson’s last role was as the assistant chief of the Career Criminal Robbery Unit.

“The passion and dedication of the people in the office is one of the reasons I want to run,” Pearson said Thursday.

Pearson left the office in early 2017 to join the ACLU. There, Pearson worked on a host of criminal-justice issues, including the ultimately successful campaign for Florida’s Amendment 4, which was to restore voting rights for many former felons. Voters approved the measure.

The two remained friendly. Fernández Rundle supported the ACLU’s Amendment 4 efforts. In 2018, Pearson even got Fernández Rundle to introduce her at an event installing her as the president of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association.

But Pearson said that the State Attorney Office’s lukewarm response to an ACLU study on racial disparities in Miami-Dade, as well as its handling of the Rainey, Menocal and other cases, spurred her to run.

“It’s nothing personal to Kathy. I respect her and she has done some good things in her career,” Pearson said. “But it’s time for a new direction.”

Pearson, who is a blogger and writer who writes often on criminal-justice issues, left the ACLU in mid-December to start her own private firm.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:36 PM.