--- title: "Jamel Ken Semper | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jamel-ken-semper" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Jamel Ken Semper U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey - State: New Jersey - Role: Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - American judge serving on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey since December 1, 2023 - Assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, 2018-2023 - Also one of seven candidates considered for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 2021 - Director, Special Prosecutions Unit, Essex County, New Jersey, 2016-2018 - Assistant prosecutor, Essex County, New Jersey, 2013-2016 - Assistant prosecutor, Union County, New Jersey, 2008-2013 - Law clerk, Hon. Harold Fullilove, Superior Court of New Jersey, 2007-2008 ### Education - Rutgers School of Law -- Newark — J.D. (2007) - Hampton University — B.A. (2003) ### Additional information - Deputy chief, Criminal Division, 2022-2023 - Chief, Newark Violent Crime Initiative, 2021-2023 - Chief, Organized Crime and Gangs Unit, 2020-2022 - Chief, Violent Crimes Unit, 2019-2020 - The lead prosecutor in the Ali Muhammad Brown case (2018), the first under New Jersey’s domestic terrorism statute, involving multiple murders in Seattle, WA, and West Orange, NJ - Homicide Task Force, 2014-2016 - Carjacking Unit, 2014 - Trial Unit, 2013-2014 - Adult Trial Unit, 2010-2013 - Juvenile Unit, 2009-2010 - Appellate Unit, 2008-2009 - Date of birth: 1981 - Led the Organized Crimes and Gangs section during his federal service - As U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, Semper presides over federal trials in the district. - Birth place: Brooklyn ## 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 ### 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/13761371) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761371) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761371) - [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 Jamel Ken Semper](https://www.fjc.gov/node/13761371) - [Wikidata: Jamel K. Semper](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123584432) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jamel-ken-semper", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/jamel-ken-semper", "name": "Jamel Ken Semper | KnowJudges", "description": "Jamel Ken Semper, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. 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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.