C. Darnell Jones II

Jones was born in Claremore, Oklahoma. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in French from Southwestern College in 1972, and a Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law in 1975.

He served in the Defender Association of Philadelphia from 1975 to 1987. He was an adjunct professor at St. Joseph's University School of Criminal Justice from 1991 to 1992, at the Temple University Beasley School of Law from 1992 to 1996 and the University of Pennsylvania Law School since 1993.^[3] He was a curriculum developer/instructor, The National Judicial College from 1998 to 2008. He was a judge on the First Judicial District, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from 1987 to 2008, serving as President judge from 2006 to 2008. He also served in that court's Commerce Case Management Program as a specialized business court judge; and was a Director of the American College of Business Court Judges.^[4]

On July 24, 2008, Jones was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Bruce William Kauffman. Jones was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 26, 2008, and received his commission on October 30, 2008. He assumed senior status on March 15, 2021.^[5]

In 2023, Jones received the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, given to judges who adhere “to the highest ideals of judicial service” and who have “made a significant, positive impact on the quality or administration of justice in Philadelphia….” In receiving the award, Jones said "the most important decision he ever made was the travel to a New Orleans suburb the week after Hurricane Katrina to help those who had lost their homes and possessions."^[6][7]

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

• C. Darnell Jones II at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.