Law Professor/Recognized Legal Expert/Consultant/ Best-Selling Author and Keynote Speaker

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Dr. Donald Marvin Jones is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a Professor of Law at the University of Miami – where he has taught Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure for nearly twenty-five years.  In 1997 he was awarded the James Thomas prize by Yale University, recognizing him as one the nation’s foremost scholars on civil rights issues. He has published numerous articles in leading law journals including Georgetown, University of Michigan, and Vanderbilt University. He has also published three books: His first, about the plight of Black men, is entitled Race, Sex and Suspicion; the Myth of the Black Male.

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His second, entitled Fear of a Hip-Hop Planet: America’s New Dilemma, is about how and why social identity is no longer black and white but has become a spectrum that includes not only race but culture. His third book, Dangerous Spaces: Beyond the Racial Profile, looks at racial profiling in the 21st century. His fourth book, The Presumption: Racial Injustice in the United States, argues that a threatening narrative originating in slavery continues to link Black people to inferiority, dangerousness, and crime, causing them to be presumed guilty by society and U.S. legal systems.

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Professor Jones has appeared on PBS’ Frontline, CNN’s Burden of Proof; The O’Reilly Factor, and The Week in Review. In 2011 he hosted a social justice television show entitled Up-close which aired on cable channel 88. Some of his more recent appearances have been on Facing South Florida on CBS during the Trayvon Martin controversy and Hot 105 during the current controversy involving the grand jury and Michael Brown. He is also a frequent contributor to the editorial pages of THE MIAMI HERALD, THE HUFFINGTON POST, and THE SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES.

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Professor Jones is an active leader on many civil rights issues; (including among them: the impact of high stakes testing in inner city schools; the affirmative action plan for minority contracting in Miami-Dade County; and the City of Miami’s policy on deadly force). In 2007 he was recognized by the National Bar Association as the “Outstanding Member” for that year, and in 2009 he was recognized as one of the most influential Blacks in South Florida by Success Magazine.  Professor Jones is a highly acclaimed – nationally sought-after speaker whom we are honored to have as a member of our panel today.