{"id":210745,"date":"2026-03-29T16:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210745\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:35:19","slug":"florida-judge-asked-if-black-defendant-had-ever-chopped-cotton-as-he-mulled-community-service-sentence-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210745\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida judge asked if Black defendant had ever \u2018chopped cotton\u2019 as he mulled community service sentence, report says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida judge<\/a> appeared to ask a Black defendant if she had ever \u201cchopped cotton\u201d during a hearing last year, local reports and court documents<\/a> indicate.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Judicial Qualifications Commission said Judge John Jordan is facing a \u201cpublic reprimand\u201d following two incidents last year, one of which involved his remarks about chopping cotton, according to court filings reviewed by The Independent.<\/p>\n

Multiple local news outlets, including News 6<\/a> and the Tampa Bay Times<\/a>, have also reported on the filings.<\/p>\n

While presiding over a plea hearing on July 28, 2025, Jordan was discussing a community service sentence with a 33-year-old Black defendant and her great-uncle, who is also Black, the documents state.<\/p>\n

According to a transcript in the court filings, Jordan asked the defendant\u2019s great-uncle: \u201cDo you own any land where I could have her work it for 30 hours?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florida's<\/p>\n

Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission has recommended a ‘public reprimand’ for Judge John Jordan (Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida)<\/p>\n

The defendant\u2019s great-uncle laughed, and the judge went on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my family\u2019s farming. They\u2019d love me out there,\u201d he said, according to the transcript. \u201cYou ever\u2014You ever chopped cotton before? You know what that is? You take a hoe and you knock out the weeds. That\u2019ll\u2014That\u2019ll straighten you up real quick doing that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan admitted his comments were \u201cill-considered,\u201d and told the commission it was the \u201cfirst and only time he has ever inquired whether a person appearing before him had ever \u2018chopped cotton,\u2019\u201d according to the documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn particular, Judge Jordan acknowledges that he failed to consider how his comments, as a judge considering whether to order a black defendant to \u2018work the land,\u2019 immediately followed by a reference to \u2018chopping cotton,\u2019 could have been interpreted (and indeed were interpreted) as inappropriate, especially in light of the historically demeaning stereotype associating black people with picking cotton,\u201d the documents state.<\/p>\n

The judge \u201cinsists that he is not a racist, and does not make rulings or decisions improperly based on race, and the Commission has no evidence that such has occurred,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the Commission remains concerned that Judge Jordan failed to grasp in the moment, or in the days thereafter, how his words clearly were inappropriate,\u201d the documents state. \u201cHe further admits that his comments were not dignified, could lessen the public\u2019s perception of the judiciary, and could weaken the public\u2019s confidence that the justice being meted out by the judicial branch is based only the facts and the law, and not a person\u2019s race.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission also described another incident from April 2025, during which Jordan \u201cunprofessionally scolded two public defenders in a manner that that was not patient, dignified or courteous.\u201d<\/p>\n

During that exchange, which happened \u201cduring jury selection, outside the presence of the jury,\u201d Jordan told the attorneys to \u201cshut up,\u201d according to the documents.<\/p>\n

Jordan has admitted that his conduct during both these incidents \u201cviolated the high standards required by the Code of Judicial Conduct,\u201d the documents state.<\/p>\n

\u201cJudge Jordan and the Commission have entered into a Stipulation recommending that Judge Jordan receive a public reprimand,\u201d the court filing reads. \u201cThe Commission believes that this sanction will serve to deter Judge Jordan\u2019s misconduct in the future and serve as an example and reminder to the judiciary about the high standard of courtroom decorum and behavior expected of judges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stipulation still requires approval from the Florida Supreme Court, according to News 6.<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s attorney, Thomas Sommerville, told The Independent his client has \u201cno comment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida judge appeared to ask a Black defendant if she had ever \u201cchopped cotton\u201d during a hearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[96485,96487,28,30,29,96483,96484,96486,30666],"class_list":{"0":"post-210745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-chopping-cotton","9":"tag-court-filings","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-john-jordan","14":"tag-judicial-qualifications-commission","15":"tag-picking-cotton","16":"tag-the-commission"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}