Bernard Maurice Jones II (born 1979)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Bernard Jones
/ref> is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ...

and a former

magistrate judge The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

of the same court.

Early life and education

Jones was born in northeast

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, and attended Bishop McGuinness High School. Jones earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...

."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees" White House, October 2, 2019

Career

Jones was in private practice, where he focused on commercial and

labor and employment law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

, first at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, and later in the

office of McAfee & Taft.

State court service

In 2012, he was appointed as a District Judge for Oklahoma's Seventh Judicial District, where he presided over the family and domestic relations and civil dockets and oversaw the District's Drug Court and Mental Health Court programs. A case Jones presided over drew national attention in 2014 when he ultimately denied a request by an Oklahoma school district to replay a high school football game that was allegedly botched by referees, noting that it was not up to the court to intervene in such a decision.

Federal judicial service

Jones was appointed as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

in 2015, and was sworn into office on August 17, 2015. He was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to be appointed to this position in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. His service as a magistrate judge was terminated on December 31, 2019 when he was elevated to district judge. On October 2, 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Jones to serve as a

for the

. On October 17, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. Jones was nominated to the seat vacated by Judge

Joe L. Heaton Joe L. Heaton (born December 12, 1951) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Education and career Born in Alva, Oklahoma, Heaton received a Bachelor of Arts degree ...

, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on July 1, 2019. On October 30, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Oklahoma Senators James Lankford and Jim Inhofe released a statement supporting Jones' nomination. On November 21, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 19–3 vote. On December 18, 2019, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

invoked cloture on his nomination by a 88–5 vote. On December 19, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 91–3 vote. He received his judicial commission on December 31, 2019.

References

External links