The Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy at Boston College Law School will welcome former US Senator Doug Jones of Alabama as the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor for the 2022 Spring term.
Senator Jones will be teaching a seminar entitled, “The United States Senate Today: How It Works; Why It Doesn’t,” which will be a real-time study of the day-to-day workings of the United States Senate. Students will act as staffers for a US Senator throughout the semester, being assigned to various Senate staff duties such as legislation, press, and committees. Class assignments will track the Senate’s 2022 spring schedule and activities, including floor votes and committee hearings, with class time serving as the Senator’s weekly staff meeting.
In addition to teaching a seminar, Senator Jones will deliver a community address and participate in lectures and panel discussions throughout the semester.
Senator Jones is a celebrated prosecutor who brought long-overdue justice to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing while serving as US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 1997-2001. In 2017, he shocked the political establishment by winning a special election to fill a US Senate seat in Alabama—the first Democrat to do so in 25 years in the state.
Senator Jones introduced or passed more than two dozen bipartisan bills into law in just three years, including legislation to end the “military widow’s tax,” provide permanent funding for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), shed light on Civil Rights-era cold cases, and expand access to broadband in rural communities. He was also one of the principal architects of the anti-money laundering legislation passed by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020.
Senator Jones, a graduate of the University of Alabama and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, currently serves as Counsel at the law firm Arent Fox and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress, focusing his work on issues of racial justice and equality, voting rights, and law enforcement reform.