Anita Hill Sees Parallels in Clinton Case : Lawsuit: But law professor says President’s accuser has the advantage of having harassment allegations heard by court rather than Senate.

Law professor Anita Faye Hill, whose accusations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas put the sexual harassment issue at the national forefront, said Sunday that she saw both similarities and differences between her case and that of Paula Corbin Jones, who has filed a federal lawsuit charging President Clinton with the same offense.

Because both cases involve allegations against highly visible and powerful figures, “there will be some comparisons,” Hill said in an interview on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation.”

But the University of Oklahoma professor added that she believes Jones has an advantage in the fact that her case will come before a court of law, rather than the U.S. Senate.

“It can get a fair hearing and, I believe, a better hearing than mine got before the Judiciary Committee,” Hill said.

She also said both cases can serve an important and beneficial purpose in furthering the nation’s understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment.

“Because they are high profile, they get people’s attention and people talk about them,” Hill said. “ . . . We have to face the possibility--and I say possibility--that, in fact, sometimes people who we admire and respect and we want to do well may engage in behavior that is objectionable and maybe even against the law.”

Hill warned against allowing the two cases to “create a sort of unreal picture of reality” that does not begin to describe the difficulties being faced by women who experience harassment in situations that will never reach such public exposure.

Her case and Jones’, she said, “almost glamorize raising a sexual harassment complaint, because here we have people on television, a number of people who are rushing to take sides on these issues, you’ve got an individual who is represented by a number of attorneys.

“In reality, it’s hard to get legal representation, it’s hard to get legal advice, it’s hard to really go forward with these cases, and there aren’t necessarily a lot of people standing around waiting to support you and hear your story.”

Meanwhile, on ABC-TV’s “This Week With David Brinkley,” Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), who is embroiled in his own sexual harassment scandal, said he “can’t help but have sympathy” for what the President is facing.

“But I think the thing that intrigues me most is the way the women’s groups look for a way to absolutely excoriate me and look for some way to attempt to exonerate the President. . . . I find that an intriguing double standard.”