Nathaniel Raphael Jones (May 12, 1926 – January 26, 2020) was an American attorney, judge, and law professor. As general counsel of the
NAACP, Jones fought to end school segregation, including in the northern United States.
From 1979 until 1995, he served as a
United States circuit judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* Eastern District of Kentucky
* Western District of ...
before assuming senior status, and in 2002 retired to resume a private legal practice.
[
]
Early years
Jones was born in the
Smoky Hollow district of
Youngstown
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, several blocks from a federal courthouse that now bears his name.
Although he lived in an integrated neighborhood and attended an integrated public high school, his mother took him to the local segregated YMCA, where he heard and met national civil rights leaders. She also introduced him to J. Maynard Dickerson, a lawyer as well as publisher of the weekly black newspaper, ''The Buckeye Review,'' who became his mentor''.'' Jones became active in the local NAACP's youth council and successfully organized a boycott of the local roller skating rink, which previously only allowed blacks to skate only on Monday nights. He graduated high school in 1945 and was inducted in the U.S. Army since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
had not yet ended. He later recalled his shock at the segregated training facility at
Camp Atterbury
Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logi ...
, Indiana, and those Italian prisoners of war received better treatment than black soldiers.
Nonetheless, Jones served with the
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
.
After the war, using the GI Bill, Jones entered Youngstown College (now
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio.
The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges a ...
). There, he continued working with the NAACP, and when nearby Warren, Ohio tried to bar blacks from the local swimming pool, he saw future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall in action. After receiving his
Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1951, he enrolled in law school, studying at nights while serving as director of Youngstown's
Fair Employment Practices Commission
The Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) was created in 1941 in the United States to implement Executive Order 8802 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and comp ...
. He graduated in 1956, receiving a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
degree.
Legal career
Jones was admitted to the bar in 1957, setting up his own private practice.
[
] In 1961, Attorney General Robert Kennedy nominated him as
Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. Thus in 1962, he became 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 serve in that position in the district.
He held that position until his 1967 appointment as Assistant General Counsel to President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
's
National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission).
Following his term with the
Kerner Commission
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner Jr. of Illinois, was an 11-member Presidential Commission established in July 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in to i ...
, 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
Roy Ottoway Wilkins (August 30, 1901 – September 8, 1981) was a prominent activist in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was his leadership of the National Association for the ...
.
The following year, Jones was honored by more than 600 dignitaries at an NAACP recognition banquet held in Youngstown. In a keynote address, he described the situation of African Americans in the following terms: "We still live in the basement of the great society. We must keep plodding until we get what we are striving for".
[
] For the next nine years, Jones directed all NAACP litigation. In addition to personally arguing several cases in the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, he coordinated national efforts to end northern school segregation, to defend
affirmative action, and to inquire into discrimination against black servicemen in the United States military.
He also successfully coordinated the NAACP's defense on
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
grounds in the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
Boycott case and won Reed v. Rhodes, which desegregated Cleveland-area schools.
However, he was also the losing attorney in
Milliken v. Bradley, which restricted urban/suburban desegregation efforts.
Judicial career and beyond
President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
on August 28, 1979, nominated Jones, to a seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* Eastern District of Kentucky
* Western District of ...
vacated by Judge
John Weld Peck II
John Weld Peck II (June 23, 1913 – September 7, 1993) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the So ...
. 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 ...
confirmed his nomination on October 4, 1979, and he received his commission on October 5, 1979.
He took his judicial oath on October 15, 1979. He assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
on May 13, 1995. His service terminated on March 30, 2002, when he retired.
While on the federal bench, in addition to hearing cases, Judge Jones taught at
Harvard Law School and at the
University of Cincinnati College of Law
The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...
. He also made many trips to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. He spoke against the legal underpinnings of
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
, became one of the observers for the first democratic elections in 1993, and later consulted with drafters of the South African constitution.
After his retirement, Jones became a Senior Counsel in the
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
office of
Blank Rome LLP, also serving as its Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer.
He also wrote a memoir,
''Answering the Call: An Autobiography of the Modern Struggle to End Racial Discrimination in America
'' (2016), with a foreword by Harvard professor
Evelyn Brooks Higgenbotham. On May 6, 2003, the second federal courthouse established in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio was named in honor of Jones.
[
] Former U.S. Representative
Louis B. Stokes of Cleveland was on hand for the naming ceremony. "This building, which will forever carry your name, will be a testament to outstanding public service by a local boy made good", Stokes said.
Jones received the NAACP's
Spingarn Medal in 2016, its highest honor.
The University of Cincinnati named its Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice to honor Judge Jones in 2019. He also received 19 honorary degrees.
Personal life
Jones was married to the late Lillian Graham Jones (née Hawthorne) and had five children:
Stephanie J. Jones
Stephanie J. Jones is an American lawyer, writer and former senior government official, and she is the President of the Nathaniel R. Jones Foundation. She was the federal government's first Chief Opportunities Officer and Editor-in-Chief of ''The ...
, William L. Hawthorne, Ricky B. Hawthorne, Marc D. Hawthorne, and Pamela L. Velez. Jones was a
Prince Hall Freemason
Prince Hall Freemasonry is a branch of North American Freemasonry for African Americans founded by Prince Hall on September 29, 1784. There are two main branches of Prince Hall Freemasonry: the independent State Prince Hall Grand Lodges, most of ...
and a member of
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
fraternity. Jones died on January 26, 2020, at the age of 93 from
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
.
See also
*
List of African-American federal judges
This is a list of African Americans who have served as United States federal judges. , 260 African-Americans have served on the federal bench.
United States Supreme Court
United States Courts of Appeals
United States District Courts ...
*
List of African-American jurists
This list includes individuals self-identified as African Americans who have made prominent contributions to the field of law in the United States, especially as eminent judges or legal scholars. Individuals who may have obtained law degrees or ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Nathaniel Raphael
1926 births
2020 deaths
African-American judges
Assistant United States Attorneys
Harvard Law School faculty
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Military personnel from Ohio
Lawyers from Youngstown, Ohio
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter
20th-century American judges
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American judges
21st-century American lawyers
Youngstown State University alumni
Spingarn Medal winners
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
20th-century African-American lawyers
21st-century African-American lawyers