PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The state Court of Judicial Discipline has suspended a Philadelphia Family Court judge for posting content on social media that reflected his opinions on some matters of public interest. It’s the first case in the state to set limits on what content is appropriate for a judge.
Judge Mark Cohen loves the White Sox, Yogi Berra and dad jokes. His Facebook page makes that clear. But the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania found his posts about school shootings, organized labor and some politicians were a little too clear for a judge whose impartiality on the bench is vital to public trust. So chief counsel Melissa Norton says the Board is pleased with the Court’s ruling that Cohen is suspended for the rest of his judicial term, which ends on Dec. 31.
“What the court found is that Judge Cohen was reflecting his political views, which at the very least created the appearance that he was not going to be impartial to certain groups,” Norton said.
Norton says the Court also emphasized that Cohen refused to stop political posts even after being reprimanded for them.
“Judge Cohen was warned multiple times by different authorities that some of his postings appeared to be improper and he did not agree and continued to post.”
There’s a disclaimer right at the top of Cohen’s Facebook page that says no posts are a hint of how he might rule from the bench. That is not sufficient for the Court.
Cohen’s attorney, Sam Stretton, says he’ll appeal the ruling. This is the first time the Court has ruled in a case involving social media posts and Stretton says he and Cohen hope to get it overturned.
“He was attempting to establish the rights of judges to have some freedom of expression as long as it doesn’t involve cases or matters that come before the court,” Stretton said.
Stretton says the ruling contradicts the part of the code of judicial conduct that encourages judges to participate in civic matters.