Peter Jo Messitte

Peter Jo Messitte (born July 17, 1941) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Early life and education Messitte was born on July 17, 1941 in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1959 from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and was greatly influenced by John F. Kennedy's speech to his graduating class. Messitte received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1963 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1966. Peace Corps service and career as lawyer He was a Peace Corps volunteer in São Paulo, Brazil, from 1966 to 1968. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C., from 1969 to 1971. He was in private practice in Chevy Chase, Maryland, from 1971 to 1985. State judicial service In 1982, after sixteen years in private law practice, Messitte ran for a seat on the Maryland Circuit Court for Montgomery County; he lost the race, but Governor Harry R. Hughes appointed him to the court in 1985. He served on the bench until he was appointed to the federal bench in 1993. On the state court, Messitte issued an order in 1989 that temporarily halted a shopping mall proposal in Silver Spring. He also presided over the bench trial of Montgomery County police officer Christopher J. Albrecht, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Messitte also wrote many articles on the impact of AIDS on the criminal justice system, and participated in a reform of Maryland's adoption laws.