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Florida judge asked Black defendant if she had ever ‘chopped cotton’: report (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 5 days ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/usa@midwest.social

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The judge acknowledged his remarks were ‘ill-considered,’ court documents state

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[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Ooooh my god, it's so bad. Here's the case view from the Supreme Court of Florida. Their findings are in a PDF under "Findings & Recommendation".

On July 28, 2025, Judge Jordan presided over a plea hearing in a felony battery case involving a 33-year-old black female defendant. This was a negotiated plea where the defendant and state agreed that the defendant would complete 30 hours of community service. While discussing possible sanctions with the defendant and her great-uncle (who is also black) who was present at the plea hearing, Judge Jordan inquired:

THE COURT: Sure. [great-uncle] do you own any land where I could have her work it for 30 hours?

[GREAT-UNCLE]: (Laughing)

THE COURT: All my family’s farming. They’d love me out there. 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.[1]

All right. Well, no pulling weeds for your great-uncle then. So, let’s move on.

[1] Judge Jordan explained to the panel that he comes from a farming background where he spent summers in his youth working his relatives [I can't believe I get to sic the fucking Florida Supreme Court] farm fields in Texas.

Upon questioning by the Panel, Judge Jordan acknowledged that this was 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 ill-considered. 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.

There were other incidents outlined in the report, but this is the one the headline is referring to.