Charles Alvin Jones

Charles Alvin Jones (August 27, 1887 – May 21, 1966) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Education and career

Born on August 27, 1887, in Newport, Perry County, Pennsylvania, Jones attended the Newport schools, Mercersburg Academy and Williams College, then received a Bachelor of Laws from Dickinson School of Law (now Penn State Dickinson Law). He was admitted to the Perry County bar in 1910, before entering private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1910 to 1939. In 1938, Jones ran for Governor of Pennsylvania as the endorsed Democratic candidate, but lost to Arthur James by nearly 300,000 votes.

Federal judicial service

Jones was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 14, 1939, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge John Warren Davis. He served as a Justice until 1966, serving as chief justice from 1956 to 1961; he retired in 1961 due to deteriorating vision.

Notable case

Jones was noted for his authorship of the Court's majority opinion overturning the conviction of Steve Jones, a Communist, on state sedition charges. Jones died on May 21, 1966, He was also survived by a son and daughter. Another son, Charles Alvin Jones Jr. was killed during World War II while serving as a Marine aviator in the Pacific.