Who Is Edith Jones?

July 19, 2005 — -- Edith Hollan Jones is a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. An outspoken conservative, the 56-year-old Jones has questioned the reasoning behind Roe v. Wade and has advocated the speeding up of the death penalty process. She is also a self-described proponent of "moral values."

Jones spent 11 years in private practice as a bankruptcy specialist in Houston, making partner while on maternity leave with her second child. She was nominated by President Reagan to the federal bench in 1985. President George H.W. Bush considered her for a spot on the Supreme Court in 1990 -- a position that went to David H. Souter. Critics said she was too conservative.

In a recent interview with The American Enterprise magazine, Jones complained that the judicial confirmation process "has become absurdly destructive of people's character, and destructive of the public's view of the judiciary."

Born in Philadelphia, Jones spent most of her childhood in Texas. She graduated from Cornell University in 1971 and the University of Texas Law School in 1974.

From 1982-83, she served as general counsel for the Republican Party of Texas, and then served on the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.