A Florida judge appeared to ask a Black defendant if she had ever “chopped cotton” during a hearing last year, local reports and court documents indicate.
Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission said Judge John Jordan is facing a “public reprimand” following two incidents last year, one of which involved his remarks about chopping cotton, according to court filings reviewed by The Independent.
Multiple local news outlets, including News 6 and the Tampa Bay Times, have also reported on the filings.
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.
According to a transcript in the court filings, Jordan asked the defendant’s great-uncle: “Do you own any land where I could have her work it for 30 hours?”
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The defendant’s great-uncle laughed, and the judge went on.
“All my family’s farming. They’d love me out there,” he said, according to the transcript. “You ever—You ever chopped cotton before? You know what that is? You take a hoe and you knock out the weeds. That’ll—That’ll straighten you up real quick doing that stuff.”
Jordan admitted his comments were “ill-considered,” and told the commission it was the “first and only time he has ever inquired whether a person appearing before him had ever ‘chopped cotton,’” according to the documents.
“In particular, Judge Jordan acknowledges that he failed to consider how his comments, as a judge considering whether to order a black defendant to ‘work the land,’ immediately followed by a reference to ‘chopping cotton,’ could have been interpreted (and indeed were interpreted) as inappropriate, especially in light of the historically demeaning stereotype associating black people with picking cotton,” the documents state.
The judge “insists 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,” according to the filing.
“However, the Commission remains concerned that Judge Jordan failed to grasp in the moment, or in the days thereafter, how his words clearly were inappropriate,” the documents state. “He further admits that his comments were not dignified, could lessen the public’s perception of the judiciary, and could weaken the public’s confidence that the justice being meted out by the judicial branch is based only the facts and the law, and not a person’s race.”
The commission also described another incident from April 2025, during which Jordan “unprofessionally scolded two public defenders in a manner that that was not patient, dignified or courteous.”
During that exchange, which happened “during jury selection, outside the presence of the jury,” Jordan told the attorneys to “shut up,” according to the documents.
Jordan has admitted that his conduct during both these incidents “violated the high standards required by the Code of Judicial Conduct,” the documents state.
“Judge Jordan and the Commission have entered into a Stipulation recommending that Judge Jordan receive a public reprimand,” the court filing reads. “The Commission believes that this sanction will serve to deter Judge Jordan’s 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.”
The stipulation still requires approval from the Florida Supreme Court, according to News 6.
The Independent has contacted Jordan’s attorney for comment.
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