Robert Edward Jones (born July 5, 1927) is an American politician and judge in Oregon. He serves as a senior
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
of the
United States District Court for the District of Oregon
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union ...
in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. A Portland native, he previously served as the 84th justice of the
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon House of Representatives.
Jones was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on February 20, 1990, to a seat vacated by James M. Burns. He was confirmed by 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 ...
on April 27, 1990, and received commission on April 30, 1990. 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 1, 2000.
Early life
Jones was born in 1927 in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, Oregon. There he attended Grant High School. After high school Jones joined the
United States Naval Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
and attended the
University of Hawaiʻi
The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...
where he earned a
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 year ...
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...
in Portland where he graduated in 1953 with 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 ...
. While in the Naval Reserve he served in the
Judge Advocate General Corps
The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...
from 1949 to 1987.
Legal career
After law school Jones entered private legal practice in Portland where he remained until 1963. In 1963 he entered politics when he served in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican representing Portland. He resigned, however, before the special session held later that year. Jones resigned in order to become a circuit judge in
Multnomah County
Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...
, where he remained until 1982.
State judicial service
On December 16, 1982, Jones was appointed by Oregon Governor Victor G. Atiyeh to the
State v. Henry
''State v. Henry'' was a 1987 decision of the Oregon Supreme Court which held that the Oregon state law that criminalized obscenity was unconstitutional because it violated the free speech provision of the Oregon Constitution. The ruling made Oreg ...
'', which declared unconstitutional all Oregon obscenity laws then binding. Jones served on Oregon's highest court until April 30, 1990, when he resigned.
Federal judicial service
On February 20, 1990, Jones was nominated to become a United States District Judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Oregon
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union ...
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 ...
on April 27 and then received his federal commission on April 30, 1990. Jones took
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 ...
U.S. Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...
had challenged the law based on federal laws concerning
controlled substances
A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. Some treaties, notably the Single ...
. In 2003 to 2004 he was the presiding judge of the case involving Mike Hawash of the
Portland Seven The Portland Seven was a group of United States, American Islam, Muslims from the Portland, Oregon area arrested in October 2002 as part of an FBI operation attempting to close down a terrorism, terrorist cell. The seven were attempting to join al Q ...
in which Hawash received a seven-year sentence for conspiring to fight in Afghanistan for the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
against United States forces. Then in 2005 he ruled against the Bush administration in their efforts to reduce protection of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act.
Other service
Jones is a former president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, an adjunct member of the
Lewis & Clark Law School
The Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College (also known as Lewis & Clark Law School), is an American Bar Association-approved private law school in Portland, Oregon.
The law school received ABA approval in 1970 and joined the As ...
faculty, part of the
National Judicial College
The National Judicial College (NJC) was established in 1963 as an entity within the American Bar Association. The NJC moved to the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UN ...
, and a faculty member of the American Academy of Judicial Education.Federal Civil Trials and Evidence. The Rutter Group. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.