 Peterson resigned from the court effective December 31, 1993.After leaving the court he was given the University of Oregon’s Distinguished Service Award, and the Oregon State Bar Association's President’s Award for Affirmative Action in 1995.The University of Oregon's alumni association gave Peterson their Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996, and in 1998 he earned the National Inns of Court’s Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award for Professionalism and Ethics.