After 35 years, beloved San Diego judge retiring. ‘A judicial icon.’

He was 14 when he killed a man. She was the sentencing judge. The law left her no choice: The youth before her would get 25 years to life in prison for first-degree murder. The courtroom was in tears, both for the college student who’d been fatally shot during a robbery and for the far-too-young shooter himself.

What unfolded in the decades that followed melded that heartbreaking case into part of the legacy of San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber. Inspired by the victim’s father, who saw victims on both ends of the gun, Weber gave ardent support to the grieving father’s work in restorative justice. She helped him spread his message and decades later wrote in support of the youth’s successful bid for parole.

Even-handed and eloquent, Weber has a keen mind — and heart — for the law, with a passion for criminal law in particular. “I think I have absolutely one of the most fascinating jobs of any person in San Diego County,” she told the Union-Tribune.

Over the last 35 years, Weber has presided over thousands of criminal matters, including hundreds of homicide cases. Before her have stood the broken parents of slain victims and countless defendants — many remorseful, a few defiant.

Outside the courtroom, she has been devoted to community outreach and civics education, even founding an annual program that introduces school kids to the courts. She has received multiple awards — state, local and national — for her work.

At 70, Weber has sp...