Lawyer of the Day: D. Marvin Jones
Several commenters to our recent post about the University of Miami law student who got benchslapped on the People's Court pointed out another news development involving the law school: the recent arrest and arraignment of a popular professor, D. Marvin Jones, on a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute. See here:

Check out his bio (which rather pretentiously describes Professor Jones as a "public intellectual"). He teaches Criminal Procedure, of all things. If there's any technical defect in his arrest, we're sure the good professor will be able to get himself off.
Professor Jones: If you're looking to score some ass, why not stick to the U. Miami student body? At least they won't charge.
Alas, we don't have the dirty details of this incident. If you know more, please email us. Thanks.
D. Marvin Jones bio [University of Miami School of Law]
Earlier: Wherein Judge Milian Dispels the Stereotype of the Feisty Latina












Comments
FIRST!!!!!
Posted by: YoMama | October 17, 2007 12:04 PM
"If there's any technical defect in his arrest, we're sure the good professor will be able to get himself off. "
If he could get himself off, he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place...
Posted by: ZING! | October 17, 2007 12:09 PM
Lat, you gave us a lot to play with in that one. "Get himself off"? "Public intellectual"? Nice; should be a good one.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:10 PM
"oh look! I got the 'get off' joke!"
Posted by: Anon | October 17, 2007 12:11 PM
darn, I was too slow with the "we're sure the good professor will be able to get himself off" comment. But yeah, that was my first thought upon reading this. Nice work Lat!
Posted by: me too slow | October 17, 2007 12:12 PM
given what this guy has published and his apparent interests, it seems pretty clear he is going to be playing the race card on this one: "I'm a black man! if i were white i would not have been arrested for attempting to hire a whore! the police are racist! the whole country is racist!"
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:13 PM
actually, it seems pretty clear that if ever anything negative happens to this guy -- be it an arrest or otherwise -- he would be pulling out the race card. and encouraging his students to do the same thing, rather than accept responsibility and own up.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:15 PM
I think he should use the old "I can get any tuchus I want defense." It evidently works for child rapes in New York.
Posted by: Morgenthau's Living Will | October 17, 2007 12:16 PM
The "public intellectual" claim in his bio isn't too bad (though I realize that most PI's shouldn't need to announce it, and being a prominent intellectual and legal authority in the Miami media is quite different from the PI's who appear in the national media) , but it should be set off by a couple of commas. (At least he doesn't write in lengthy parentheticals.)
Posted by: anon | October 17, 2007 12:19 PM
Eveyone fawining over lat's obvious comments are ass kissing sycophants..
Posted by: Sycophants | October 17, 2007 12:22 PM
Well played, Lat.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:23 PM
Look at the name of his defense attorney
Posted by: Private Intellectual | October 17, 2007 12:26 PM
Being a public intellectual is hard work! A guy needs a good hummer and now and again to take the edge off- If I was white you would be congratulating me on my fine taste in Hookers- Did you see the ho I was nailin'?
Posted by: D. Marvin Jones | October 17, 2007 12:27 PM
If he could get himself off, he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place...
It's hard to raise a techinical defect in the arrest if you haven;t been arrested..
Posted by: Newsflash | October 17, 2007 12:28 PM
What has gone unnoticed is that the professor's defense attorney is Jeffrey Weiner.
If I were charged with solicitation, I would not pick a lawyer who had to introduce himself to the jury as "Mr. Weiner."
Posted by: anon | October 17, 2007 12:29 PM
i just busted out laughing in class at that last post... i hope my professor doesnt ask what is so funny
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:31 PM
Yesterday was perhaps the best day in ATL history - shaping up to be a good week.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:32 PM
12:31 - Prediction: You will do poorly this semester. Indeed you will perform so poorly on one exam in particular that you will seriously consider, and may, drop out of school.
You will not pass the bar.
Posted by: Mark my words | October 17, 2007 12:41 PM
12:41 - are you speaking from experience???
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:44 PM
First a student gets humiliated, now a professor...any Deans want to step up so we can hit all 3? Bad press is just what UM needs, 2L's already have to claw their way into big firms assuring them that "yes, in fact, we are qualified" despite coming from Miami...
Posted by: UMLaw09 | October 17, 2007 12:44 PM
Nope.
Posted by: 12:41 | October 17, 2007 12:48 PM
DID HE USE CRAIGSLIST, OR DID HE CRUISE THE STREETS?
Posted by: anon | October 17, 2007 12:48 PM
Speaking of crim pro, Lat, how about the presumption of innocence? Why are you trying to humiliate this guy just because he's a lawyer? Is it so you can sell ad space and entertain the jackals who comment on here?
Seriously, this is a misdemeanor arrest. It has no relevance to anything. There is no reason to bring it up in this forum except to exploit this guy's misfortune for shits and giggles. And that's reprehensible.
Posted by: A | October 17, 2007 12:51 PM
DID HE USE CRAIGSLIST, OR DID HE CRUISE THE STREETS?
Posted by: anon | October 17, 2007 12:51 PM
NYU: T4 in sexual deviants :)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 12:52 PM
Is that an old pic? He doesn't look 56.
Posted by: BWS | October 17, 2007 12:53 PM
UM Law to Embarrassing Disgrace!
Oh wait, that happened years ago.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:02 PM
12:41--
What the hell are you talking about?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:04 PM
"UM Law to Embarrassing Disgrace!
Oh wait, that happened years ago."
At least Loyola 2L doesn't go here.
Posted by: UM alumnist | October 17, 2007 01:05 PM
Are Miami 2ls qualified? Seems like a schwag school to me . . .
Posted by: anon | October 17, 2007 01:06 PM
Is U of M that bad? I know its not T-14 but my sense is that its grads do well in Florida. True?
Posted by: Really? | October 17, 2007 01:08 PM
Alumnist?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:10 PM
"Seriously, this is a misdemeanor arrest. It has no relevance to anything. "
Looks like Senator Craig dropped in at 12:51.
Posted by: Someguy | October 17, 2007 01:10 PM
I hear the prosecutor's name is Hugh G Rection.
Posted by: Prosecutor | October 17, 2007 01:12 PM
1:08 - Vandy and UCLA are "not T-14," UM is more like not, not not not not not T-14.
If UM were an ice cream flavor it would be Pralines & Bar Failure
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:14 PM
Boy, Marvin Jones really has gone places since finishing his pro football career.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:18 PM
Don't you people have anything better to do than discuss whether a law school is "T-14" or a "TTT?" Nobody cares.
Posted by: JJJ | October 17, 2007 01:20 PM
1:20 - Employers sure care.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:21 PM
i care.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:22 PM
"1:20 - Employers sure care."
No they don't. This is just a myth propogated by T14 graduates.
Posted by: UM Alumnist | October 17, 2007 01:24 PM
I'm sure it was just "research."
Now back to my internet "research."
Posted by: Anonamiss | October 17, 2007 01:26 PM
prostitutes to 190!
Posted by: yay | October 17, 2007 01:29 PM
I had this ass-wipe for Con Law and (gasp) Employment Discrimination back in the day. He a racist lunatic. I mean kill whitey type stuff. Name something wrong with society and, you guessed it, its the white man's fault.
Best...Day...Ever
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:31 PM
12:51 (1) ---
What did you think this site was? This is a fucking tabloid blog (note: it's not a forum, which is a different animal), not a blog for self-described intellectuals, whether public or otherwise. Geez.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:32 PM
Is it really a crime to get one's swerve on?
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:36 PM
I'll bet you $100 bucks the hooker was white...
Posted by: Fo Shizzle | October 17, 2007 01:38 PM
I started reading Lat when he was doing Underneath Their Robes, which was a sweet, funny and interesting look at the inside world of the judiciary. At ATL, though, he seems to be devolving into just throwing shit around for the sake of entertaining all the obnoxious people who comment on this site, the folks who have a stunted sense of empathy and an inflated sense of self-importance.
I'm bringing it up because I think it's a shame. I used to think Lat was pretty cool and kind of refreshing in the way he talked about the legal world. Increasingly, he's acting like just another arrogant, condescending bully in a profession full of arrogant, condescending bullies.
Posted by: A | October 17, 2007 01:40 PM
And the above comment was intended in response to 1:32, btw.
Posted by: A | October 17, 2007 01:41 PM
Wow A, you must be a pretty cool guy. Too bad we all can't be like you.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:41 PM
Self-lionizing jackass racists to the holding pen!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:43 PM
12:51/1:40/1:41 "A"...
Since you are apparently the authority on legal blogging, how would you handle this?
I mean, come on. Lighten up. A Crim Pro prof is busted for trying to buy a piece of ass. That's not funny?
Posted by: 1:32 | October 17, 2007 01:44 PM
A, that's very touching. Go eat a ****.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:45 PM
Lat said, "Check out his bio (which rather pretentiously describes Professor Jones as a 'public intellectual'). "
This is a typo. He is a pubic intellectual.
Posted by: Tracey | October 17, 2007 01:53 PM
Just say it:
Hey A; eat a fat dick.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 01:54 PM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pF0a5w2C-JQ
Posted by: Trifecta! | October 17, 2007 01:58 PM
Oh my.
Posted by: LUC2L | October 17, 2007 02:09 PM
"I'll bet you $100 bucks the hooker was white..."
- 1:38
Yeah... And I'll bet you $200 the poster at 1:38 has never been to Miami.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 02:10 PM
Wow. Every time a person of color is mentioned on this site the closet racists come out.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 02:13 PM
You can write up another casualty of affirmative action.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 02:20 PM
re 2:09 -
Wow, the prof hired a guy who is apparently the criminal defense lawyer of choice for Miami's drug-kingpin community to defend him on a simple misdemeanor of picking up a hooker.
Balls out!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 02:21 PM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pF0a5w2C-JQ
Posted by: trifecta | October 17, 2007 02:24 PM
2:21PM
Go big or go home, eh? That's how we roll in Miami.
Posted by: athruz | October 17, 2007 02:43 PM
2:13 PM - You are so right.
2:41 PM - White people are much more frightening than black people. They were the ones that enslaved and lynch black folks. Lest we soon forget.
Posted by: Black Person | October 17, 2007 03:03 PM
2:13 PM - You are so right.
2:41 PM - White people are much more frightening than black people. They were the ones that enslaved and lynched black folks. Lest we soon forget.
Posted by: Black Person | October 17, 2007 03:07 PM
I noticed the person in question is African American. This annoys me, since those people are hardly qualified to vote, raise children, or do work beyond menial labors, much less practice law (well, the non-menial parts anyway).
For those who don't know:
If a black person succeeds, it is ascribable only to affirmative action or, maybe, luck.
If a black person fails, it is clearly because he had it coming and shouldn't have been where he was in the first place. Think of it as a system correction for AA.
Affirmative action is bad, unless practiced by law enforcement or the judicial system. Then it is just profiling -- a needed, and quite reasonable, reaction to the atavistic psyche of the Negro mind.
Thanks for listening!
Posted by: The more you know!!! | October 17, 2007 03:12 PM
On another U Miami topic, I really miss Oona.
Posted by: Anon | October 17, 2007 03:18 PM
Why would HE need a prostitute....I'm available and free...
Posted by: Paralegal | October 17, 2007 03:32 PM
1:40:
And Lat's former site Wonkette is all growd up too.
Cynicism comes with age....
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 03:33 PM
I am personally very upset to have heard about this story. Since a lot of people have taken the time to trash Prof. Jones I thought I would chime in and say a good word about the man. Not that it will count for anything in the blogosphere and is soon to be forgotten but here goes nothing...
I had Prof. Jones for CrimPro 1L year. He is simply THE best classroom law professor I have had at UM. He makes the material come alive and jump off the page. He is an ardent defender of citizens' rights in the criminal process and really challenges the student's received beliefs to the core. While a good deal of students disagree with his views on criminal law, he is so sharp and intelligent that he provides a challenge so great that when you come out on the other side you have a new appreciation for why you believe the things you believe.
Furthermore, Prof. Jones is an active member of his local political community. He is approachable, friendly, entertaining, and eloquent. I know that with the support of his students and the administration at this university he will be able to overcome this unfortunate indiscretion and continue what has been a stellar career in teaching at UM.
For those who took the class with me:
KATZ IS DEAD! LONG LIVE KATZ!
Posted by: 3rd Amendment Lawyer | October 17, 2007 03:38 PM
Why would HE need a prostitute....I'm available and free...
He doesn't want you- you would want to hang around after and chat and all that bullshit- He wants a pro- qucik, efficient- GET IT DONE- goodbye..
Posted by: Because | October 17, 2007 03:44 PM
I think it's pretty obvious who the anonymous writer is of this one:
actually, it seems pretty clear that if ever anything negative happens to this guy -- be it an arrest or otherwise -- he would be pulling out the race card. and encouraging his students to do the same thing, rather than accept responsibility and own up.
you're such a nazi.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 03:46 PM
Ovulating strippers make bigger tips: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=9668695D-E7F2-99DF-342C3B954158E8E2&chanID=sa003
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 03:56 PM
Rumor has it that he also had an ounce of coke down his pants but the cop didn't search him....
Posted by: Rumor Has it | October 17, 2007 04:49 PM
it seems he's more accustomed to others getting him off than he is capable of getting himself off.
Posted by: a little help from my friends | October 17, 2007 05:00 PM
http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/cjis/dockets.asp?68C941CC68D767D76FCD78CB778E67D365DB69CD41B534DC3B9839DB349A39CC3A8E76D741993B04
He asked for a continuance on the 10/15 hearing that was scheduled...also says a "Demand for Notice of Alibi" was filed. What the hell kind of alibi defense could he have??
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 05:07 PM
http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/cjis/dockets.asp?68C941CC68D767D76FCD78CB778E67D365DB69CD41B534DC3B9839DB349A39CC3A8E76D741993B04
He asked for a continuance on the 10/15 hearing that was scheduled...also says a "Demand for Notice of Alibi" was filed. What the hell kind of alibi defense could he have??
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 05:11 PM
We need to stop pretending we are still a virtuous and angelic society and simply admit that there will always be prostitutes and customers.... tax and regulate it. Then maybe we can balance the budget. And I can feel (reasonably) assured that the toots I frequent are clean.
Sincerely,
Hugh Grant and Both Houses of Congress.
Posted by: Tax It! | October 17, 2007 05:19 PM
3:38 = another black studen Jones gave a rubber-stamp B+ to.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 05:53 PM
3:38 = another black studen Jones gave a rubber-stamp B+ to.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 05:53 PM
5:11,
Cf. In re Shaggy ("It wasn't me.").
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 05:56 PM
This is great. A professor with a well-paying job gets to commit illegal acts with impunity. Meanwhile, I have no job and can't even beat my classmates without having someone yell at me. WHITE GIRLS WITH ASIAN GUYS WGWAG
Posted by: Loyola 2L | October 17, 2007 06:47 PM
Also a distinguished Miami Law alum, Joseph Caramagno.
http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/0808/caramagno_ctv.html
http://josephcaramagno.com/index.jsp
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 09:21 PM
The Caramango video of him drunk off his ass in the courtroom is the best. It's all over YouTube, 4 parts' worth in fact.
But come on, guys - it's MIAMI. Most of you wouldn't last 10 minutes there. (The city, not the University.)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2007 10:38 PM
3:38= a white student jones gave an B+ to. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaandgofuckyaself. seriously. if not, meet me in front of the library doors tomorrow at 1:50 PM with a blue t-shirt on (i know youve got one) and ill show you my transcript. and i will also break my foot off in your ass, you fucking pantywaist.
Posted by: Fist yourself | October 18, 2007 01:04 AM
1:04:
Did you put a little "B" on the top of your exam so the good professor whould know who slap a B+ on? Thought so.
Posted by: Settle Down Francis | October 18, 2007 09:29 AM
sorry was drunk when i posted at 1:04. i will not break my foot off in your ass BUT i AM white and i DID get a B+ in that class. and no, i did not mark the exam with a little B. I took it on SoftTest and regurgitated a bunch of left-leaning horseshit. Needless to say, every single piece of evidence in my response was annihilated by the poisonous tree.
Posted by: sorrywasdrunk | October 18, 2007 10:42 AM
I had Prof. Jones from crim pro 1L year. He's an awesome professor and a very approachable man. Fuck all you people who are talking shit about him.
Posted by: Jones's student | October 18, 2007 11:10 PM
I also had Jones and thought he was a great professor. The fact that so many of you have found race to be somehow relevant to his (alleged) indiscretion is ridiculous.
Posted by: anonymous | October 19, 2007 12:31 AM
There are either (1) some racists on this site; or (2) some folks who are still bitter abour OJ. Why would prof. Jones have to pull the race card. Apparently he was caught soliciting an undercover. Not too much wiggle room there. Furthermore, as 99.9% of black people who have ever been arrested know, the "race card" does not work.
Posted by: me | October 19, 2007 11:04 AM
Professor is Jones is without question the best law professor at the University of Miami. Has anyone heard of the presumption of innocence? Or is that presumption immediately rebutted when the defendant is a high-profile figure?
Why don't we let the facts develop before judgements are made.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 20, 2007 09:32 AM
It's he married
Posted by: anonymous | October 26, 2007 06:07 PM
I do not think he is married. I had two classes with Jones and I thought he was a great teacher. His classes were always fun and interesting. So he wanted a little lovin, big deal. It's not like he raped or killed someone.
Posted by: Kelly | November 7, 2007 12:05 AM