Robert Clive Jones

Robert Clive Jones
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
Assumed office
February 1, 2016
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
In office
2011 – January 1, 2014
Preceded by Roger L. Hunt
Succeeded by Gloria Navarro
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
In office
November 30, 2003 – February 1, 2016
Appointed by George W. Bush
Preceded by David W. Hagen
Succeeded by vacant
Personal details
Born 1947 (age 68–69)
Las Vegas
Alma mater

Robert Clive Jones (born 1947) is a Senior District Court Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. He served as Chief Judge from 2011–2014.

Jones was born in Las Vegas. He graduated from Brigham Young University where he majored in English, accounting and economics in 1971, becoming a CPA soon after graduation. Jones attended UCLA Law School, where he was an editor of the UCLA Law Review.[1]

He served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1971–1972, and then in the U.S. Air National Guard from 1972–1977. In 1975, Jones was a law clerk to Hon. J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 1976–1982, he was in private practice. Jones served as a bankruptcy judge from 1983–1999.[2] His wife is Michele Bunker.

Jones is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served in several positions in the church including bishop. He was a missionary in Japan from 1966 to 1969.[1]

Judicial career

On June 9, 2003, Jones was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada vacated by David W. Hagen. Jones was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on October 2, 2003, and received commission on November 30, 2003. He assumed senior status on February 1, 2016.[2]

Notable cases

In August 2012, Jones held that Nevada's election law giving voters the ability to select "None of the above" was unconstitutional. He was overruled by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on September 4, 2012. One member of that panel, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, criticized Jones' handling of the case: "His dilatory tactics appear to serve no purpose other than to seek to prevent the state from taking an appeal of his decision before it prints the ballots.... Such arrogance and assumption of power by one individual is not acceptable in our judicial system."[3]

On November 29, 2012, in the case of Sevcik v. Sandoval, Jones ruled that Nevada's denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.[4][5] Jones stated that,"a meaningful percentage of heterosexual persons would cease to value the civil institution as highly as they previously had and hence enter into it less frequently." He also wrote that adoption is "not an alternative means of creating children, but rather a social backstop for when traditional biological families fail." On October 7, 2014, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Jones's ruling and directed him to promptly enjoin the state of Nevada from "preventing otherwise qualified same-sex couples from marrying."[6] However, instead of issuing the order, Jones issued an order recusing himself the next day.[7]

In August of 2013, Jones was the only Chief Judge from each of the 50 states that did not sign a letter to the leaders of the United States Congress urging them to avoid further sequestration related budget cuts. The letter explained that further cuts would have a "devastating and long-lasting impact" on federal courts.[8]

In a September 2015 opinion, the Ninth Circuit identified Jones as having "well established and inappropriately strong" feelings against out-of-state attorneys and directed that the case be reassigned to a different judge due to the appearance of bias.[9]

On January 15, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit criticized Judge Jones in an opinion reversing a decision by him in a case involving a claim for damages by the federal government against ranchers who grazed their cattle on federal property without a permit.[10] The Court of Appeals stated that Judge Jones's rulings in the case were "plainly" and "clearly" contrary to law;[11] that he had "grossly abused the power of contempt";[12] that he had "harbored animus" against federal agencies;[13] that his "bias" was a "matter of public record";[14] and that he had engaged in "improper treatment of government officials" in a previous case.[15] The Court of Appeals stated that it had "expressed concern about Judge Jones' conduct in several other recent cases."[16] In remanding the case to the district court for further proceedings, the panel ordered the assignment of the case to a different judge due to the appearance of bias created by Judge Jones' conduct during the case.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Cannon, Mark W. (November 6, 2004). "LDS federal judges raising the bar". Church News. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Jones, Robert Clive". Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Nevadans to keep "none of the above" ballot option". CBS News. September 5, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  4. ↑ Sevcik v. Sandoval, 911 F. Supp. 2d 996 (D. Nev. 2012).
  5. ↑ Geidner, Chris (November 29, 2012). "Federal Judge Rules Nevada Can Ban Same-Sex Couples From Marriage". BuzzFeed Politics. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  6. ↑ Latta v. Otter, 771 F.3d 456, 476–77 (2014).
  7. ↑ Sevcik v. Sandoval, No. 2:12-cv-578 (October 8, 2014) (R. 117).
  8. ↑ Sherman, Mark (August 16, 2013). "Judges urge Congress to avoid more sequestration cuts". The Washington Post.
  9. ↑ Nat'l Council of La Raza v. Cegavske, 800 F.3d 1032, 1045, 1046 (9th Cir. 2015).
  10. ↑ United States v. Estate of Hage, No. 13-16974, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 733 (9th Cir. January 15, 2016).
  11. ↑ Id., slip op. at 20 ("Rather than simply resolving the fact-specific inquiries as to when and where the cattle grazed illegally, the district court applied an 'easement by necessity' theory that plainly contravenes the law. The district court also encouraged Defendants to file a counterclaim that was clearly time barred.").
  12. ↑ Id., slip op. at 21 ("[T]he court grossly abused the power of contempt by holding two federal agency officials in contempt of court for taking ordinary, lawful actions that had no effect whatsoever on this case." (citation omitted)).
  13. ↑ Id.
  14. ↑ Id.
  15. ↑ Id., slip op. at 23.
  16. ↑ Id., slip op. at 24.
  17. ↑ See id., slip op. at 25.
Legal offices
Preceded by
David Warner Hagen 		Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
2003–2016 		Vacant
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