Jones was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on February 20, 1990, to a seat vacated by Judge James M. Burns.
[3] After high school Jones joined the United States Naval Reserve and attended the University of Hawaiʻi where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949.
[7] One of the most notable cases Jones authored the opinion in was State v. Henry, which declared unconstitutional all Oregon obscenity laws then binding.
[10] Then in 2005 he ruled against the Bush administration in their efforts to reduce protection of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act.
[11] Jones is 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.