Jones merits federal bench

President George W. Bush's nomination of King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones, 56, to a federal judgeship should be confirmed quickly by the U.S. Senate.

Since 1994, he has been a fine jurist, most notably as the judge in the trial of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, and also in a long list of criminal cases. In a sensitive political ruling in 2004, Jones made the right call by requiring disclosure of contributors to attack ads against political candidate Deborah Senn. In his courtroom, Jones is known for making eloquent statements that express just the sort of values needed in a judge.

Jones has another advantage, as had the other two candidates offered to the president: He was vetted by a bipartisan committee co-chaired by Republican J. Vander Stoep and Democrat Jenny Durkan. The process is designed to produce moderate and meritorious candidates, and that is what it has done.

Contrast this with the way the country has chosen justices for the U.S. Supreme Court over the past quarter-century. There, of course, a justice may shape the law, and neither side in the political contest wants to give up its opportunity to do that. At District Court, a federal judge applies the law. There, what is wanted is a judicial temperament, a care for fairness and deep experience in the law.

This is a lifetime appointment with no room for mistakes — and we believe there is no mistake here.