Robert Edward Jones (July 5, 1927 – March 29, 2025) was an American politician and judge in Oregon.
/ref> He served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in Portland. 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 (United States), 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.

and as a member of the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

Background

Jones was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

on July 5, 1927. There he attended Grant High School. After high school, Jones joined the United States Naval Reserve and attended the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1949. He then enrolled at the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland where he graduated in 1953 with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. While in the Naval Reserve he served in the Judge Advocate General Corps from 1949 to 1987. Jones died on March 29, 2025, at the age of 97.

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

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, where he remained until 1982.

Judicial career

State judicial service

On December 16, 1982, Jones was appointed by Oregon Governor Victor G. Atiyeh to the

.Oregon State Archives: Oregon Governor's Records Guides.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008. He replaced Jacob Tanzer who had resigned. One of the most notable cases Jones authored the opinion in was '' State v. Henry'', which declared unconstitutional all Oregon

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

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 by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

to replace Judge James M. Burns. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on April 27 and then received his federal commission on April 30, 1990. Jones took senior status on May 1, 2000.

Notable cases

As a federal judge, he upheld Oregon's Assisted Suicide law against a federal challenge in April 2002.Federal judge upholds Oregon assisted-suicide law.
CNN.com. April 17, 2002. Retrieved on February 1, 2008. U.S. Attorney General

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...

had challenged the law based on federal laws concerning controlled substances. In 2003, to 2004 he was the presiding judge of the case involving Mike Hawash of the Portland Seven in which Hawash received a seven-year sentence for conspiring to fight in Afghanistan for the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

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 The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

Other service

Jones was a former president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, an adjunct member of the Lewis & Clark Law School faculty, part of the National Judicial College, and a faculty member of the American Academy of Judicial Education.Federal Civil Trials and Evidence.
The Rutter Group. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.

References

External links

*

* ttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3805/is_199906/ai_n8857533 Mass tort litigation and inquisitorial justice
Portland Tribune: Terror judge: Bring on the big questions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Robert E. 1927 births 2025 deaths 21st-century American judges Grant High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Lawyers from Portland, Oregon Lewis & Clark Law School alumni Members of the Oregon House of Representatives Oregon state court judges United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush United States Navy officers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni United States Navy reservists United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps