Cases and background information for

Judge Jay P. Cohen

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About this Court Position
About this Court Position

Candidate Background

Judicial Background

  • 2008 - present: Judge, 5th District Court of Appeal. Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist. He won the retention vote in 2010 by 63.36% and 2016 by 67.95%.
  • 1993 - 2008: Circuit Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit Court. Appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles.* He was involved in setting up the website for the 9th Circuit.
  • 1990 - 1993: County Judge, Orange County. Appointed by Governor Bob Martinez.* He helped start a successful volunteer-based mediation program in the county, which reduced the court's caseload.

Additional Background

Before he became a judge, Cohen had about 11 years of experience as an attorney. In that time, he argued 100 jury trials, 200 non-jury trials, and 2 cases for administrative bodies (government agencies) to completion. For the first 3 years, he was a Prosecutor. He then shifted to private practice, where he specialized in criminal defense, juvenile dependency, domestic relations, commercial matters, and personal injury.

Before that, he clerked for a total of nearly 2 years for an attorney and Student Legal Services at the University of Florida. In this time, he spent 1 year on the Board of Supervisors Appellate Advocacy Program at the University of Florida. He interned for 9 months at the Office of the State Attorney.

He has taught in the Justice Teaching program, where legal professionals educate K-12 students about our justice system.

This judge is a member of the Federalist Society.

Expected Retirement

2028

This judge is a textualist, who uses an interpretation of the Constitution that is advocated by the Federalist Society.

additional resources

Note: Some sources, like the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Today, and Tampa Bay Times, have a limited number of free articles.

* Appointed instead of running for election because of a vacancy between election cycles.