Born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Jones received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University in 1968 and a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School in 1971.

Jones was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow staff attorney of New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation from 1971 to 1973.

He was a project director, New Orleans Office of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law from 1973 to 1976.

He was a Civil district court judge, Parish of New Orleans, Div.

[1] On August 25, 1994, Jones was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana vacated by Judge Frederick Jacob Reagan Heebe.