A Florida judge is being investigated for his conduct after allegedly asking a Black defendant if she ever “chopped cotton” during a 2025 hearing, The Independent reported.
Judge John Jordan is under investigation and facing a “public reprimand” after two 2025 incidents that crossed racially offensive boundaries. Court documents reveal that while presiding over a July 28 plea hearing, Jordan was discussing a community service sentence with a 33-year-old Black defendant and her great-uncle, also Black. Jordan asked the great-uncle: “Do you own any land where I could have her work it for 30 hours?”
After hearing the defendant’s relative laugh the comment off, the judge kept going. “All my family’s farming. They’d love me out there,” the court transcript continued.
“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, who presides in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court covering Orange and Osceola counties, according to Fox 35 Orlando, admitted that his comments were “ill-considered,” and told the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission that the comments were the “first and only time he has ever inquired whether a person appearing before him had ever ‘chopped cotton.’” Judge Jordan also acknowledged that his questions and comments in this instance were undignified the documents read.
“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.”
But “the Commission remains concerned that Judge Jordan failed to grasp in the moment, or in the days thereafter, how his words clearly were inappropriate.”
This isn’t the first time Jordan has been in the spotlight for inappropriate comments or behavior.
During the jury selection process last year, while presiding over an aggravated battery case, the judge allegedly scolded two public defenders in an unprofessional manner, including telling them to “shut up.” Jordan appeared “annoyed” that the lawyers didn’t confer with their client about the jurors’ lunch break, asking, “How much time do you need? Can I get you something to eat? Something to drink?” the filing said.
Similar to the “cotton” comment, Jordan admitted to his conduct being a violation of “the high standards required by the Code of Judicial Conduct.”
Jordan insists that he is not a racist and that he doesn’t make rulings or decisions based on race. The commission said there is no evidence to prove that race played a role in any of the judgments on his record; the public reprimand recommendation must still be sent to the state supreme court.
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