The Presumption: Race and injustice in the United States– explores how while in the post-civil rights era we have dismantled formal structures of racism the beliefs, an ideology which propped it up to have crystallized into a presumption of criminality- or dangerousness- that follows blacks not only onto urban spaces, but into courtrooms, corporate suites, and onto our screens.

In 1997, Professor Jones was awarded the James Thomas prize by Yale University, recognizing him as one of the leading scholars in the country for that year.

In 2007, he was voted the most outstanding member of the National Bar Association for that year.

In 2009, Professor Jones was voted one of the most influential blacks in South Florida by Success Magazine.

Professor Jones who has taught Criminal Procedure and Constitutional law for many years has won awards for teaching.

In 2011, BALSA named him Best Teacher.

In 2015, his peers at the University of Miami voted him as the Best Teacher and Best Researcher at the law school at the University of Miami. U.S. Higher Education Faculty Awards, (River Publishers 2016) on page 425 *

A now familiar face in the local and national media, Professor Jones has appeared hundreds of times as an expert of constitutional issues. He has appeared on PBS’ Frontline, CNN’s Burden of Proof; O’ Reilly’s The O’Reilly Factor and Michael Putney’s The Week in Review, and Jim Defede’s show, Facing South Florida. More recently, Professor Jones appeared on ABC TV on a show entitled “Fury in Florida “addressing the hotly contested Governor’s race in 2018.

In addition to his now three books, Professor Jones has written numerous articles in leading legal journals including Plessy’s Ghost: Grutter, Seattle and the Quiet Reversal of Brown, 35 Pepp. L. Rev. 583 (2008); “A Bronx Tale: Disposable People, the Legacy of Slavery and the Social Death of Kalief Browder.” (U. Miami L. Rev.) 2016. Professor Jones most famous articles are Darkness Made Visible: Law, Metaphor, and the Racial Self in the Georgetown Law Journal (1993); No Time for Trumpets: Title VII, Equality and the Fin de Siècle in the University of Michigan Law Journal (1994). His essays also appear in books including Chapter 13 of Delgado and Stefancic, Critical White Studies: Looking Behind the Mirror (1997) and in Levitt et al, HURRICANE KATRINA: AMERICA’S UNNATURAL DISASTER (2009). Professor Jones’ work has been cited by at least one Federal Appellate Court. **

Professor Jones has lectured nationally and internationally for many years. As a legal scholar, he has presented at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Michigan and many other colleges and law schools. He has given keynote addresses before the NAACP Annual Convention, the National Bar Association, the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, often sharing the stage with National figures. He has been a featured author at the Miami Book Fair three times. In 2005, he presented his book RACE, SEX, AND SUSPICION: THE MYTH OF THE BLACK MALE. In 2013, he presented his book FEAR OF A HIP-HOP PLANET: AMERICA’S NEW DILEMMA at the Miami Book Fair. In 2017, he presented his book DANGEROUS SPACES: BEYOND THE RACIAL PROFILE.

He has also lectured internationally. Professor Jones was invited by a group of lawyers, judges, and social scientists to present a lecture at Humboldt University in Berlin in 2007. In 2015, he was invited by the same group to speak at Sigmund Freud University in Vienna (2015). In 2017, the same group to present invited him to speak at the University of Prague (2017). In 2018, he was again invited, this time to present a lecture at the University of Rome.

Finally, Professor Jones has been deeply engaged in not merely as a legal theorist but as an expert on Constitutional law. He has been retained as an advisor to members of Congress, local government, and U. S. government agencies. In 2003, Professor Jones testified as a Constitutional expert before the U.S. Congress on the restoration of rights to ex-felons. In the same year he was retained to advise the U.S.: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the historical significance of the noose as a symbol of racial intimidation.

From 2003 -2004 the Miami-Dade County Commission retained Professor Jones to draft an affirmative action plan for Miami-Dade County. In 2006, the City of Miami retained Professor Jones to advise them on the constitutionality of its regulations on deadly force.

In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the General Counsel for the Miami-Dade County School Board retained Professor Jones to advise that office concerning affirmative action policies. Professor Jones is a sought after speaker at many universities.

*https://www.google.com/books/edition/2015_U_S_Higher_Education_Faculty_Awards/KsC7CwAAQBAJ?hl=en
** https://openjurist.org/458/f3d/332/jordan-v-alternative-resources-corporation

Areas of Expertise:

Constitutional Law

Race and the Criminal Justice System

Diversity

Election Law-Voting Rights

Race and Sports

Speaking Topics:

Famous While Black: Race, Place, and Hyper-Visibility

Dubois wrote about the “twoness” of being a black American. I speak here both about my twoness and the problem, like the black men at Starbucks, of being stereotyped as out of place. On the one hand, I have experienced being a local celebrity. But with exposure came the experience of being profiled by police for driving an expensive car, or jogging in my own neighborhood. I write how to understand and confront the paradox of racism in both the street and the corporate suite.

Publications:

Books

Dangerous Spaces: Beyond the Racial Profile (2016).
Fear of a Hip-Hop Planet: America’s New Dilemma (2013).
Race, Sex, and Suspicion: The Myth of the Black Male (2005).

Articles

A Bronx Tale: Disposable People, the Legacy of Slavery, and the Social Death of Kalief Browder, 6 U. Miami Race & Soc. Just. L. Rev. 31 (2016).

“Been in the Storm So Long”: Katrina, Reparations and the Original Understanding of Equal Protection, Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster 255 (2009).

Plessy’s Ghost: Grutter, Seattle and the Quiet Reversal of Brown, 35 Pepp. L. Rev. 583 (2008).

When “Victory” Masks Retreat: The LSAT, Constitutional Dualism, and the End of Diversity, 80 St. John’s L. Rev. 15 (2006).

“We Must Be Hunters of Meaning”: Race, Metaphor, and the Models of Steven Winter,67 Brook. L. Rev. 1071 (2002).

“We’re All Stuck Here for a While”: Law and the Social Construction of the Black Male, 24 J. Contemp. L. 35 (1998).

Recent Media Appearances:

https://www.law.miami.edu/news/2017/november/professor-jones-race-inner-city-2017-miami-book-fair

http://www.sfltimes.com/opinion/the-trump-effect

http://www.sfltimes.com/news/why-we-are-losing-the-war-against-racism-on-campus

http://www.sfltimes.com/opinion/the-social-media-nikolas-cruz-and-the-code-of-terror

http://wlrn.org/term/hip-hop

http://www.wlrn.org/post/donald-jones-um-professor-law

https://www.pbs.org/video/florida-medical-marijuana-expansion-hbzyeu/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oj/themes/prosecution.html

“Did The Stand Your Ground Law Have a Role in The Zimmerman Trial” on WLRN 2013

“Fisher v. UT a victory for affirmative action” in The South Florida Times 2013

“NAACP holds town hall forum on George Zimmerman trial” in The Miami Herald 2013

“Racial stereotyping, paranoia mockingly on display in trial” 2013

“Role of Race in George Zimmerman Trial” on CBS Miami 2013

“Voting rights taking center stage” in The South Florida Times 2013

“What is the Value of a Black Male’s Life?” in The South Florida Times 2013

“High Court, Except Thomas Sees Injustice in the conviction of Foster”, in South Florida Times, May 26, 2016

“Sumner Mississippi Comes to Charleston: The Case of Walter Scott” in South Florida Times, December 8, 2016

Donald Marvin Jones is available for Keynote Speaking, Media Guest and as an Expert Legal Consultant.