Judge Nathaniel R. Jones addressed the 1998 graduating class of the University of Dayton’s School of Law with this quote: “It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that a person who is not involved in the passions, the actions of his times, will have been deemed not to have lived…Lawyers need to be involved in the actions, the passions of our times.”With those words, Judge Jones provided not only an inspirational keynote to the new graduates, but a fitting description of his own philosophy, life and legacy.
Born the son of a Depression-era family that lived in Youngstown, Ohio, Judge Jones’ father lost his job in the steel mills and worked as a janitor; his mother took domestic jobs to keep the family fed. “As a youngster, I was constantly reminded of my place in society.” Jones says he overcame this stigma through strong parental reinforcement and his refusal “to be pigeonholed.”
This determination led to Jones’ involvement with civil rights issues while he attended South High School. Following service in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, in 1946 he returned to attend Youngstown College (now Youngstown State University), where he became active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. That year, as a nervous young veteran, he gave his first speech at an NAACP convention in Dayton on the subject of “What the Returning Black Veteran Expects”.
Before graduating from college in 1951, he solidified his plan to become a lawyer thanks in part to the positive influence, mentoring, and friendship of influential black leaders in the community including attorney Clarence Robinson and J. Maynard Dickerson, founder of the Buckeye Review. He graduated from the Youngstown Law School in 1956, and became the executive director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission. In 1961 he was appointed by Attorney General Robert Kennedy as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland and became the first black assistant U.S. attorney in that district.
From 1967 to 1968, he served as the assistant general counsel of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Commission) in Washington, DC. The landmark report of the Kerner Commission continues to be studied by students of urban problems.
Following his work on the Kerner Commission, Jones was asked by civil rights leader Roy Wilkins to assume the position of general counsel of the NAACP. For the next decade, he served in that position, where he directed the national response to attacks against affirmative action and led an inquiry into discrimination against black service men in the military. He also supervised the NAACP’s defense in the Mississippi boycott case that led to the landmark Supreme Court decision that gave individuals and organizations the right to engage in protests under the First Amendment.
On May 17, 1979, at a White House ceremony, President Jimmy Carter announced his intention to appoint Nathaniel Jones to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He took his oath of office on October 15, 1979. During his 22-year term on the Court of Appeals, Judge Jones also sat by designation in the Third, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, and also accepted designation as a trial judge, authoring hundreds of opinions on virtually every aspect of federal litigation.
In addition to his assigned responsibilities, Judge Jones has served on numerous judicial committees, civic and fraternal organizations. Judge Jones’ distinguished record of community and academic service includes teaching at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, North Carolina Central University College of Law, and Harvard Law School. His efforts in civil and human rights have taken him to countries around the globe.
He was called to consult Nelson Mandela and played an important role in furthering the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. Judge Jones also played a key role in the drafting of South Africa’s new constitution and laws, and in 1993 he served on the team of observers for the first democratic elections in South Africa.
Now serving as senior counsel at Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley LLP in Cincinnati, Judge Jones’ involvement in the issues of his life continues with unabated passion. He continues to be a strong and eloquent force on behalf of judicial independence, social justice and equality, and international human rights.
From the local to the international, Judge Jones’ capable leadership, dedicated service and lasting impact have not gone unrecognized. The new federal courthouse currently under construction in Youngstown will bear his name. Among the honors and awards he has received are the National Bar Association’s Equal Justice Award, the Millennium International Volunteer Award, and the Human Relations Award.
“Lawyers need to be involved in the actions, the passions of our times.” Judge Jones told the aspiring young lawyers that day in Dayton. It was a fitting summation after 45 years of ardently practicing what he preaches.