A Philadelphia family court judge has been suspended for the final three months of his time on the bench after the Court of Judicial Discipline found that his politically charged social media posts violated standards of conduct for lawyers.
The court on Monday imposed the sentence on Common Pleas Judge Mark B. Cohen, who spent more than four decades as a Democratic state representative before becoming a judge.
The opinion and order criticized Cohen’s “actions in repeatedly posting items on the Internet that reflected his political views, even after being warned not to do so.”
Cohen’s attorney, Sam Stretton, said Tuesday he plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court. He described Cohen as a compulsive reader and a very knowledgeable person, and that his blog posts on public issues were revised to end the endorsement of candidates after he became a judge more than six years ago.
“I think it’s important for judges to be able to speak in a reserved manner, as long as they’re not talking about cases in their courthouse, about things like that,” Stretton said.
In an opinion issued in May, the court listed dozens of Cohen’s Facebook posts, including posts saying President Joe Biden “has proven to be an excellent president,” expressing support for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s tactics in impeachment proceedings , and issued an impeachment proceeding. “Plea for more domestic spending and less military spending.”
“Judge Cohen represents all judges in Pennsylvania and has a duty not to leave the public in doubt as to whether judges in general act on such strong convictions as he expresses,” the court wrote in May.
Cohen is 75 years old, the age limit for judges, so Stretton said his time as a judge will end when his suspension expires on December 31.
