--- title: "Aileen Mercedes Cannon | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aileen-mercedes-cannon" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Aileen Mercedes Cannon U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida - State: Florida - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - American federal judge serving on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, appointed by President Donald J. Trump in 2020 and confirmed by the Senate 56–21 - Assistant U.S. attorney, Southern District of Florida, 2013-2020 - Law clerk, Hon. Steven M. Colloton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2008-2009 ### Education - University of Michigan Law School — J.D. (2007) - Duke University — B.A. (2003) ### Additional information - Cannon presides over cases in the Southern District of Florida, including high-profile matters such as the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, which she dismissed in 2024 and in which she ordered the sealing of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report. - Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2009-2012 - Date of birth: 1981 - Ransom Everglades School - Birth place: Cali ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### trial exhibit list Scope: judge specific Judge Cannon’s official exhibit-list template requires the exhibit-number field to identify the pre-marked label, such as P-1 or D-1, and states that specific objections do not relieve parties of their admissibility obligations. Evidence excerpt: The number in the ‘Exhibit Number’ column must indicate the pre-marked identification label (e.g., P-1 or D-1). By stating specific objections to exhibits, the parties do not alleviate their responsibility to introduce and meet admissibility requirements with respect to any exhibit. [Judge Aileen M. Cannon Exhibit List Template](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/Exhibit_List_Template-1.docx) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### electronic trial exhibits Scope: courtwide Unless otherwise ordered, Southern District of Florida parties must file electronic versions of documentary exhibits and digital photographs of non-documentary physical exhibits within ten days after a hearing or trial ends. Evidence excerpt: Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, within ten (10) days of the conclusion of a hearing or trial, a party must file and serve in the CM/ECF system (a) an electronic version of each documentary exhibit ... and (b) a digital photograph of each non-documentary physical exhibit... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### audiovisual exhibit filing Scope: courtwide The Southern District of Florida's local rules require contraband images, audio, and video recordings that are exempt from CM/ECF filing to be physically filed with the Clerk within ten days after the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered. Evidence excerpt: Contraband images, audio recordings, and video recordings, which must be physically filed with the Clerk of the Court within ten (10) days of the conclusion of the hearing or trial, unless otherwise ordered... [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/9188596) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/9188596) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/9188596) - [Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/25-09-22%202025%20Local%20Rules%20effective%20120125%20-%20FINAL.pdf) - [Judge Aileen M. Cannon Exhibit List Template](https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/sites/flsd/files/Exhibit_List_Template-1.docx) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon](https://www.fjc.gov/node/9188596) - [Wikidata: Aileen Cannon](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q92441908) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aileen-mercedes-cannon", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aileen-mercedes-cannon", "name": "Aileen Mercedes Cannon | KnowJudges", "description": "Aileen Mercedes Cannon, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.