Edith Hollan Jones(born April 7, 1949) is aUnited States circuit judgeand the former chief judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Edith Jones | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
| In office January 30, 2006 – October 1, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Carolyn Dineen King |
| Succeeded by | Carl E. Stewart |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
| Assumed office April 4, 1985 | |
| Appointed by | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 7, 1949 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S. |
| Education | Cornell University(BA) University of Texas at Austin(JD) |
Jones was nominated by PresidentRonald Reaganon February 27, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. She was confirmed by theUnited States Senateon April 3, 1985, and received commission on April 4, 1985. Jones served as chief judge of the Fifth Circuit from 2006 to 2012.
Education and career
editBorn inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, Jones graduated fromCornell Universitywith aBachelor of Artsin economics in 1971. She received herJuris DoctorfromUniversity of Texas School of Lawin 1974, where she was a member of theTexas Law Review.She was in private practice inHouston,Texas,from 1974 until 1985, working for the firm ofAndrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones,where she became the firm's first female partner. She specialized inbankruptcy law.She also served as general counsel for theRepublican Party of Texasfrom 1982 to 1983.[1]
Federal judicial service
editJones was nominated by PresidentRonald Reaganon February 27, 1985, to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,to a new seat authorized by 98 Stat. 333.[2][3]She was confirmed by theUnited States Senateon April 3, 1985, and received commission on April 4, 1985, at the age of 35.[1]She served as chief judge from January 16, 2006, to October 1, 2012, succeedingCarolyn Dineen King.[4]
Other service
editShe sits on the board of directors of theBoy Scouts of Americaand the Garland WalkerAmerican Inns of Court.
In 2010, Jones visited Iraq as part of the U.S. State Department's Rule of Law program, where she advised and encouraged Iraqi and Kurdish judges.[5]
Supreme Court consideration
editJones has been mentioned frequently as being on the list ofpotential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States.A 1990 report fromThe New York Timescited her asGeorge H.W. Bush's second choice for the Supreme Court vacancy filled by JusticeDavid Souter.[6]TheChicago Sun-Timesand several other newspapers reported on July 1, 2005, that she had also been considered for nomination to the Supreme Court during the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush.
Legal philosophy
editIn her opinions, she has questioned the legal reasoning which legalizedabortion,advocated streamliningdeath penaltycases, invalidated a federal ban on possession ofmachine gunsand advocated tougheningbankruptcylaws. In 2006, Jones found that a death row inmate who had filed apro semotion to drop his appeal while his attorney was abroad could not later reinstate his appeal.[7]
In June 2017, Jones dissented when the court found that a university did not violate theDue Process ClauseorTitle IXwhen it expelled a student for committing acampus sexual assaultand his girlfriend, who had recorded the assault and shared the video on social media.[8][9]In May 2018, Jones wrote for the court when it found thatTexas Senate Bill 4,which prohibits local governments or public employees from "endorsing"sanctuary citypolicies, did not violate theFirst Amendment.[10][11]
McCorvey v. Hill
editJones attracted attention for her opinion in the case ofMcCorvey v. Hill(2004), which was a request byNorma McCorvey– the 'Jane Roe' ofRoe v. Wade– to vacate the finding of that case. Jones joined the Fifth Circuit in rejecting the petition on procedural grounds, but she took the unusual step of handing down a six-page concurrence to the judgment of the court.
The concurrence credited the evidence presented by McCorvey and sharply criticized the Supreme Court's rulings inRoeand in a less famous case that was decided simultaneously,Doe v. Bolton.She quoted JusticeByron White's dissent in the latter that described the Supreme Court's decision as an "exercise of raw judicial power".[12]She concluded: "That the court's constitutional decision making leaves our nation in a position of willful blindness to evolving knowledge should trouble any dispassionate observer not only about the abortion decisions, but about a number of other areas in which the court unhesitatingly steps into the realm of social policy under the guise of constitutional adjudication."[13]
Adams v. All Coast
editJones dissented when the 5th Circuit denieden bancin a case regarding what constitutes a 'seaman'. The majority ruled that liftboat workers are not exempt from overtime pay, and Jones accused the majority of floutingEncino Motorcars v. Navarro.[14]
Controversy
editIn 2011, Jones yelled at her colleagueJames L. Dennisduring an oral argument, telling him to "shut up." She later apologized for her "inappropriate language" and stated that Dennis accepted her apology.[15]
A group of civil rights organizations and legal ethicists filed a complaint of misconduct against Jones on June 4, 2013, after she had allegedly said that "racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime" and are "prone to commit acts of violence" that are more "heinous" than members of other ethnic groups.[16][17]According to the complaint, Jones also stated that a death sentence is a service to defendants because it allows them to make peace with God and that she "referred to her personal religious views as justification for the death penalty."[18] Jones allegedly made the remarks during a speech to the University of PennsylvaniaFederalist Society.However, the speech was not recorded, and the ethics complaint was based solely on affidavits from audience members.[19]
In part because Jones had been recently served as the chief judge of the Fifth Circuit,Chief Justice of the Supreme CourtJohn Roberts,in his administrative capacity, transferred the complaints to the judicial ethics panel of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[20]
On August 12, 2014, the judicial ethics panel of the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the complaint by citing lack of evidence to justify disciplining Jones. The complainants appealed to the Judicial Conference of the United States,[21][22]which affirmed the ruling of the judicial ethics panel in February 2015.[23]
In August 2023, Jones wrote a letter published inThe Wall Street Journalcriticizing a complaint brought by the chief judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuitagainst fellow circuit judgePauline Newman.Jones stated that the refusal of the circuit to transfer the case to another circuit for review, and to instead to have the same judges act as "prosecutors, judges, jurors and witnesses", as "inexplicable".[24][25]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ab"Jones, Edith Hollan - Federal Judicial Center".fjc.gov.
- ^Pres. Nom. 1111,98th Cong.(1984) (returned to the President).
- ^Pres. Nom. 105-1,99th Cong.(1985).
- ^"Edith Jones Takes Over as Chief Judge of the 5th Circuit".Texas Lawyer.RetrievedJanuary 30,2006.[dead link]
- ^"Rule of Law Program Brings Federal Judge to Iraq".Third Branch.Archived fromthe originalon March 11, 2015.RetrievedAugust 22,2014.
- ^Apple, R. W. Jr. (July 25, 1990)."Bush's Court Choice; Sununu Tells How and Why He Pushed Souter for Court".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 1,2010.
- ^"Recent Case: Fifth Circuit Declines to Permit Reinstatement of Waived Habeas Appeal"(PDF).Harvard Law Review.120:1386. 2007.RetrievedOctober 25,2017.
- ^{{{first}}} Note,Fifth Circuit Holds that Due Process Standards May Be Lowered in the Presence of "Overwhelming" Video and Photographic Evidence of Guilt,131Harvard Law Review634 (2017).
- ^Plummer v. University of Houston,860 F.3d 767(5th Cir. 2017).
- ^{{{first}}} Note,Recent Case: Fifth Circuit Reverses Injunction of Texas’s Sanctuary Cities Bill,132Harv. L. Rev.1738 (2019).
- ^City of El Cenizo v. Texas,890 F.3d 164(5th Cir. 2018).
- ^"Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973) at 222, per White J (diss.)".RetrievedMay 12,2006.
- ^"McCorvey v. Hill, 385 F.3d 846 (5th Cir. 2004) at 12, per Jones J"(PDF).RetrievedMay 12,2006.
- ^"William Adams v. All Coast, LLC"(PDF).ca5.uscourts.gov.September 30, 2021.RetrievedOctober 5,2021.
- ^Lat, David (September 21, 2011)."Judicial Diva Gone Wild? Chief Judge Jones tells Judge Dennis to 'Shut Up'".Above the Law.
- ^Weissert, Will (June 4, 2013)."Federal judge accused of making racial comments".New England Cable News (WECN).Archived fromthe originalon June 15, 2013.
- ^Bronner, Ethan (June 4, 2013)."Complaint Accuses U.S. Judge in Texas of Racial Bias".The New York Times.
- ^Smith, Jordan (June 4, 2013)."Judge Edith Jones: Blacks and Hispanics More Violent: Complaint filed over Jones's discriminatory and biased comments".Austin Chronicle.
- ^Olsen, Lise (June 14, 2013)."Federal judges rarely disciplined for inappropriate remarks".Houston Chronicle.
- ^Condon, Stephanie (June 13, 2013)."Conservative judge Edith Jones up for rare review".CBS News.
- ^Olsen, Lise (October 15, 2014)."Federal panel dismisses complaint against Houston judge".The Houston Chronicle.
- ^Benen, Steve;Maddow, Rachel(October 16, 2014)."Federal Judge Faces No Punishment Following Racially-charged Remarks".The Rachel Maddow Show.RetrievedOctober 17,2014.
- ^"2014-10-14 JEJ appeal - Aug. 2014 ruling of Judicial Council of D.C. Circuit.pdf".
- ^Jones, Edith H. (August 15, 2023)."Federal Judges Deserve Due Process, Too".The Wall Street Journal.
- ^Goudsward, Andrew (August 16, 2023)."US appeals judge faults probe of Federal Circuit's Pauline Newman".Reuters.
External links
edit
- Comments by Edith Jones Regarding Supreme Courtfrom University of Virginia School of Law
- Edith Hollan Jonesat theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.