by peter e. bortner
A federal judge from Pottsville will be helping to make the court system safer beginning in October, when he joins a committee on judicial security.
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, whose chambers are in Harrisburg, announced Monday that he has been appointed to serve a three-year term on the federal Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Security.
"As the name implies, it deals with all manner of security issues for the federal judiciary," said Jones, whose stint on the committee will start Oct. 1. "These include the formulation and execution of the judiciary's court security appropriation from Congress, cost containment initiatives and dealings with the U.S. Marshal Service, the entity with primary responsibility for judicial security."
Chief Justice of the United States John I. Roberts Jr. appointed Jones on Wednesday to the committee, which is chaired by U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas of the Southern District of Texas.
"Your willingness to serve over and above the performance of your regular judicial duties demonstrates your commitment to effective judicial administration," Roberts wrote to Jones.
Jones took office Aug. 2, 2002, after his nomination by President George W. Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Before that, he served as chairman of the state Liquor Control Board. He also had been a lawyer in Pottsville, including service as an assistant public defender.
During his time on the federal bench, he gained international fame for his decision in 2005 in the case of Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District, in which he ruled that the teaching of intelligent design violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.