Nathaniel R. Jones
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| Nathaniel R. Jones | |
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| Born | May 12, 1926 Youngstown, Ohio |
Judge Nathaniel R. Jones (May 12, 1926 - ) has distinguished himself as a lawyer, jurist, academic, and public servant. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit before his retirement in March of 2002.
Judge Jones was born on May 12, 1926, in Youngstown, Ohio, and served with the U.S. Air Force during World War II. After the war, he pursued his education at Youngstown State University, receiving his A.B. in 1951 and his LL.B. in 1956. Judge Jones was admitted to the bar in 1957.
[edit] Early legal career
After four years in private practice, Judge Jones served as Executive Director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland. He held that position until his 1967 appointment as Assistant General Counsel to President Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission). Following his term with the Kerner Commission, Judge Jones returned to private practice with the firm of Goldberg & Jones in Youngstown.
In 1969, he was asked to serve as general counsel of the NAACP by executive director Roy Wilkins. For the next ten years, Judge Jones directed all NAACP litigation; in addition to personally arguing several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, he coordinated national efforts to end northern school segregation, to defend affirmative action, to inquire into discrimination against black servicemen in the U.S. military, and successfully coordinated the NAACP's defense on First Amendment grounds in the Mississippi Boycott case.
[edit] Judicial career and beyond
On May 17, 1979, President Carter nominated Judge Jones to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Jones took his oath of office on October 15 of that year, served as a Senior Judge of that court. He is now employed in the Cincinnati office of Blank, Rome LLP.
Judge Jones’ record of community and academic service includes teaching at the Harvard Law School. His efforts in civil and human rights have taken him to countries around the world, and in 1993, he served on the team of observers for the first democratic elections in South Africa.
