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Judge Nate Jones to be honored Saturday by YSU chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi

Friday, March 18, 2016

YOUNGSTOWN

Michael Robinson, a Youngstown State University alum and brother of Kappa Alpha Psi, thinks about Judge Nathaniel R. Jones every time he walks down Market Street and passes the federal courthouse.

“I get this jolt,” Robinson said. “It’s a sense of responsibility of the need to give back to the local community.

The YSU chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi will present a tribute to Jones today at a private fraternity event in Boardman.

Jones, a former judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, is a graduate of Youngstown City Schools and YSU.

A World War II veteran, he spent his career litigating in favor of school desegregation and voting rights.

Additionally, Jones, who now lives in Cincinnati, was an adviser to South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela and helped draft his country’s constitution following apartheid, South Africa’s nationally sanctioned segregation. Jones also served as deputy general counsel for President Lyndon Johnson’s Kerner Commission, which was tasked with investigating the 1967 U.S. race riots.

In 1969, Jones became general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, filling a position once held Thurgood Marshall, who went on to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

For more on Jones and the awards, read Saturday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.