ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 20, 1996 TAG: 9607220058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
THE CONFIRMATION MEANS Southwest Virginia gains an additional federal judge because the judge James Jones replaces sat in Charlottesville.
Seventeen years after first being nominated, Abingdon attorney James P. Jones will don the robe of federal judge, presiding over the courtroom he has known well as a litigator.
By unanimous consent, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jones' nomination as a judge for the Western District of Virginia late Thursday.
Jones was first nominated for a judgeship in 1979 when he was just 38, but election year politics derailed his nomination. He was nominated again last year, but politics again caused federal judicial nominations to languish until this month.
"I must admit that I was" getting anxious, he said Friday. "This has been sort of a long, drawn-out matter for me."
Jones said he plans to take the oath of office in the next month or so, after he wraps up matters in his private practice and takes a vacation.
Jones is a partner in Penn, Stuart, Eskridge & Jones in Abingdon and has long been active in Democratic politics and community service. He served as chairman of the board of the Bristol hospital, as a state senator and as president of the Virginia Board of Education.
He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia Law School. He has worked as a law clerk on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and as an assistant attorney general.
"Part of my ambition [to the judgeship] is because of the high caliber of the existing judges in the Western District," he said. "I've practiced before them for years, and I'm anxious to join them.''
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said he considers Jones "a close personal friend and a key adviser." Jones has served as treasurer on Boucher's campaigns.
"I'm highly pleased by the long-awaited Senate confirmation of his nomination," Boucher said. "Jim is one of the most respected lawyers in the entire state. He has the largest federal practice in our region."
Jones' confirmation means that Southwest Virginia gains an additional federal judge, because the judge he replaces sat in Charlottesville. After Jones begins hearing cases, U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson - who now sits in Abingdon but lives in Roanoke - will be based in Roanoke along with Judge James Turk.
Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., who recommended Jones to President Clinton, said on the Senate floor Thursday, "I know [Jones is] relieved to have finally completed this torturous journey, and I'm pleased that he will finally be able to demonstrate what those of us acquainted with him have known for years - that he will make an exemplary judge."
Jones' first nomination was foiled in 1980, when Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to approve all the nominations so that there would be vacancies for Ronald Reagan to fill if he got elected that fall. Reagan did, and proceeded to nominate his own, Republican, candidates.
This term - another election year - not one federal judicial nominee had been approved by the Senate until last week, with 30 nominations in limbo. Attorney General Janet Reno had blasted the delay in June, saying that with 68 vacancies on the 847-member federal bench, "Justice delayed is indeed justice denied."
Both Democrats and Republicans had contributed to delays in the process, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott vowed last week to break the overall "gridlock" in the Senate. Ten days ago, senators began approving one judge a day.
Jones will fill the vacancy created by Judge J. Harry Michael of Charlottesville, who assumed senior status last October but has continued to carry a full caseload. Ironically, Michael was one of Jones' fellow nominees in 1980 and was one of the Democrats who did get approved by the Senate that year.
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