`Poor boy from Oklahoma' addresses Senate panel
U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard M. Jones told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he views his nomination for a federal district judgeship as an opportunity to serve.
“This is an extension of my service, not only to the court but also the preservation of the rule of law,” Jones said.
Jones, 40, was nominated by President Donald Trump for a U.S. district judge position in the western district of Oklahoma, based in Oklahoma City. Jones would fill the vacancy created when U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton took senior status.
He must be confirmed by the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate. The American Bar Association rated Jones well qualified for the judgeship.
Jones, who spoke to U. S. Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe earlier this year about the judgeship, was endorsed by both senators on Wednesday.
Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, told the committee that Jones “has been very, very committed to following the Constitution and state law, both as a state judge and now serving as a federal magistrate, and he has been overwhelmingly recommended by the other judges that serve with him as a magistrate judge there.”
In his opening statement, Jones said, “I'm just a poor boy from Oklahoma who— through God's grace, hard work and the support of many— has had some incredible opportunities.
“One of those opportunities was attending Notre Dame Law School, which t aught me, above all else, that being a member of the legal profession is about more than membership or means of earning a living. It is a vocation of service requiring each of us to use the gifts with which we have been blessed in service of others.”
Jones has been a magistrate judge in Oklahoma' s western district since 2015; before that, he was a district judge in Oklahoma County, where he oversaw drug court and mental health court programs.
J ones received his bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University and his law degree from Notre Dame.
A group called the First Liberty Institute announced its opposition to Jones' nomination because he ruled, while a state judge in Oklahoma County, against a law that “provided vouchers for disabled children to attend private schools of their choosing.”
Jones' ruling in that case wasn't mentioned in the hearing on Wednesday.
Jones and two other nominees for federal judgeships were asked mostly general questions. All were asked about sexual harassment policies for their chambers. Jones said the judge should set the tone and “treat everyone with dignity and fairness.”
The nominees also said they agreed with the core holding of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Brown versus Board of Education case. The 1954 decision found school segregation to be unconstitutional.
Jones is one of two nominees for Oklahoma's western district now before the committee. The panel is expected to forward the nomination soon of Jodi Dishman to fill the vacancy created when Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange took senior status.