And then again, maybe not

Last week we posted about the discrepancy between the resume of suspended municipal court director Nate Jones and the information provided by the online student clearinghouse that verifies (or not) an individual's college degrees.

We submitted another verification request to the same clearinghouse and this time came up with a different response:

While we cannot explain why the original inquiry turned up different information, we do feel it is only fair and correct to post the results of the subsequent research.  We have tried to contact the school directly to get an explanation but as of yet have received no response.

Name On School's Records:		NATHANIEL M JONES, JR.
Date Awarded:		05/10/1985
Degree Title:		BACHELOR OF ARTS
Official Name of School:		HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Major Course(s) of Study(and NCES CIP Code, if available):		POLITICAL SCIENCE
Academic Honors:		COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
Dates of Attendance:		08/21/1978 to 05/10/1985
Name On School's Records:		NATHANIEL M JONES, JR.
Date Awarded:		05/13/1989
Degree Title:		JURIS DOCTOR
Official Name of School:		HOWARD UNIVERSITY
School Division:		SCHOOL OF LAW
Major Course(s) of Study(and NCES CIP Code, if available):		LAW
Dates of Attendance:		08/15/1985 to 05/12/1989

So we leave it up to you readers to decide which of the reports you will believe.  We have provided as much information as we have at our disposal.  If anything changes, we'll let you know.

Is Nate Jones a fraud?

While we eagerly await Judge Feinberg's decision on the validity of Nathaniel M. Jones, Jr's appointment as Municipal Court Director for the city of Trenton, you might want to review the following material.

First up, Mr. Jones' resume as furnished upon request by the city of Trenton.

On that resume, Mr. Jones lists both bachelor and juris doctorate degrees from Howard University in Washington, DC.

A search done via the National Student Clearinghouse online service revealed the following fact about Mr. Jones:

Name On School's Records:		NATHANIEL M JONES
Date Awarded:		N/A
Degree Title:		No Degree -- Enrollment Only
Official Name of School:		HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Major Course(s) of Study:		POLITICAL SCIENCE
Dates of Attendance:		08/21/1978 to 05/08/1981

Assuming this information is correct...it indicates that Mr. Jones incorporated some untruths on his resume.

Also on the resume, Mr. Jones states that he was admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania. 

This was apparently true.  But he doesn't mention that in 1995, his name appeared on the list of attorneys tranasferred to inactive status by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and its Disciplinary Committee. (see page 11 of the listing).

While nothing in the NJ Civil Service title description of Court Director specifies that a law degree be required, it certainly appears as though Mr. Jones might have fudged the point of his qualifications.

The fact that the Mack administration doesn't seem bothered about this lapse in truthfulness on the part of an appointee is somewhat indicative if the Mayor's lax approach to ethics.

Jones should be removed and made to repay all the salary he has collected since his appointment.

Mack should be recalled.