Is Judge Cohen’s Problem His Wife?
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Who wears the pants in Circuit Judge Dale Cohen’s family?
Obviously not the judge, who is now taking a hit around the courthouse because his wife Mardi Anne Levey is challenging one of Cohen’s colleagues Judge Pedro Dijols.
That’s a no-no in Broward County. Challenging a sitting judge for no good reason should be a no-no anywhere.
Word is that Cohen is being snubbed around the courthouse by some other judges and lawyers because of his wife’s campaign.
If I were Cohen I would have told my wife not to run, but she apparently is unstoppable.
After all, this is the same woman who ran and lost to Circuit Judge Marina G. Wood two years ago. That time she was Mardi Levey Cohen on the ballot.
This year she again picked a Hispanic to run against. Maybe she felt that some didn’t know Marina Wood was Hispanic, but nobody can mistake Pedro Dijols. I guess she feels a Levey has a better chance of being elected than a Dijols.
I wrote on August 4 about the cynical campaign against Hispanic judges. Some political insiders believe anybody with a non-Hispanic name can beat a Hispanic. I believe that’s why Levey ran against Dijols and didn’t run for one of two open seats on the circuit bench.
Now her husband is paying the social price of her desires to be a judge.
The recent Broward bar poll appears to back up the rumors about Cohen. Between 30 and 40 percent of those answering the poll disapproved of everything from Cohen’s legal knowledge to his temperament.
In the same poll, more than 71 percent do not approve of wife Levey’s depth of legal knowledge.
The June poll is highly controversial since only 108 lawyers answered questions about Cohen and 128 about Levey. The poll was distributed to 7,108 Broward lawyers.
But it does indicate there is a hard core of opposition to both Cohen and his wife Levey.
And me? I would just like to see the body language when Cohen passes Dijols in the courthouse!
August 12th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Dale’s excuses are the most pathetic. “I have no say in what my wife does.” That’s a bunch of crap and nobody’s buying.
My wife and I are equal partners in everything we do. While I have no “control” over her actions (nor she of mine), we each certainly have a “say” in what the other does, especially on major issues that affect the family.
So either Dale Cohen is as big a wuss as a man can be (which explains his nasty attitude in the courtroom) or he’s just too chicken to support his wife’s goals. Either way, he’s not much of a man.
At least his wife had the brains to wait until the last second before filing her papers to run against Dijols so Dale wouldn’t get an opponent this time around. Anyone wanna bet whether Judge Cohen is opposed in 2014? The Broward Power Brokers don’t forgive or forget so easy.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
wow this has been long ago discussed on the courthouse blog i think Bob Norman’s blog as well.
Let me give you a hot tip… Sheriff Jenne is in prison for tax evasion.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Mardi Levey – Cohen (why would she drop the Cohen? She always puts her hat in the race at the last minute. She is a power hungry woman, who lies and doesn’t care who she runs over to get what she wants. She would be a horrible choice for the bench, where you need someone who is out for the job as a duty to do, not just a big paycheck to go along with her husbands. He has nothing to do with her choices? Sure.
Right, huh-huh….
Tell it to the JUDGE! hopefully it won’t be her.