by Rachael Perrotta
Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones spoke to around 75 Vanderbilt University Law School students on April 4 at an event hosted by VLS’ American Constitution Society chapter.
Jones won a special election in 2017 to become the first Democrat to serve as a senator of Alabama in in a quarter century, holding the office until 2021. He is highly regarded across the aisle for his effectiveness in office, during which he passed more than 24 bipartisan bills. Prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, Jones was an assistant U.S. attorney and U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama. He also was a private practice attorney in Birmingham.
As U.S. Attorney, Jones revisited the 1963 case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed 4 young Black girls, successfully prosecuting 2 of the 4 responsible Ku Klux Klan members. He also aided with the identification and prosecution of Eric Rudolph, who was responsible for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, the UAB bombing and others.
Birmingham church bombing
VLS Professor Ganesh Sitaraman moderated the conversation with Jones, which started by discussing the Birmingham church bombing of 1963. Jones explained that the bombing resulted from tensions in the South and especially among the KKK due to desegregation. Children began getting involved in the Civil Rights Movement and organized children’s marches, making themselves a target.
“When they [the KKK] got more agitated, they bombed more buildings and homes,” Jones said.
He admitted he skipped class while a student at Cumberland School of Law to watch the trial of the first bomber to be prosecuted in 1977.
“It was pretty amazing for me to watch the trial of that first case,” Jones said. “I never dreamed, 24 years later, I was to pick up and do the same, and follow up with the same cases and two defendants in the same court.”
Jones also stated that he believes the prosecution of the final two bombers was successful due in part to Birmingham’s changing perspective.
“The juries have been changing; Birmingham changed; everything about giving the defendants a fair trial has changed,” Jones said.
Prosecution of Eric Rudolph
Jones also spoke of the identification and eventual prosecution of Eric Rudolph, who was found guilty of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing and 1998 UAB bombing, among others.
“Four months into my tenure, and, all of a sudden, all hell was breaking loose,” Jones said.
He explained that Rudolph was only identified because a UAB freshman saw the bombing from a laundry room on campus and noticed just one person in the crowd walking away from the situation, not toward it.
“This 18-year-old kid thought: ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’” Jones said. “And he went out and literally followed him.” The student worked with an attorney he found along the way to track down Rudolph and obtain his car identification.
“If not for the courage and fortitude of an 18-year-old freshman, he would have killed again,” Jones said.
Recent domestic violence
Given his background in handling cases of domestic terrorism, Sitaraman asked Jones about how the legal system can help address incidents of violence against government officials and racially charged violence. Jones explained that he had been target of threats of violence as a Senator and emphasized the need for government leaders to be conscientious of their messages.
“Make no mistake: there is a direct connection between the rhetoric of public officials and the violence that we have seen,” Jones said. “A lot of the public officials that we’re talking about really don’t mean what they’re saying. They don’t intend the violence, but they just go crazy with their rhetoric and don’t appreciate that there’s someone crazy out there listening to them who is thinking, ‘I have been given a green light to do harm.’”
In addition to conscientious civic engagement, Jones stated that the courts offer another path to prevention. He added that putting aside partisan politics in times of violence and dispute is necessary to enact meaningful change. Specifically, Jones pointed to attorneys as those he believes to be in the best position to ask judges to be an advocate for a lack of bias.
A man of many hats
Jones also spoke about having held positions as both a defense lawyer and a prosecutor. He stated that, while these roles may seem opposite on the surface, they have the same goal.
“I learned that what lawyers do is defend the rule of law,” Jones said. “You have an ethical obligation and a duty to uphold the rule of law, to [exhibit and advocate for] candor with the court, and to be a zealous advocate.”
He said holding these different roles helped him in his legal career as he could easily analyze situations from both sides. He referenced a line from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” the book reads.