John E. Jones III Biography

John Edward Jones III (born June 13, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist from Pennsylvania. A Republican, Jones was appointed by President George W. Bush as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in February 2002 and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on July 30, 2002. He is best known for his presiding role in the landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, in which the teaching of "intelligent design" in public school science classes was ruled to be unconstitutional. In 2014, he ruled that Pennsylvania's 1996 ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.