Justices Delay Harrassment Suit Against Clinton

In a move that delays Paula Corbin Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton until after the November election, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a president is protected while in office from answering to lawsuits arising from his actions as a private citizen.

Lawyers for Clinton say he deserves a “grant of temporary immunity” that would put off the lawsuit until he leaves office.

“The White House is pleased that the court has recognized the merits in the petition put forward by the president’s attorneys,” said White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, who was with Clinton in Nashville on Monday.

Had the justices rejected Clinton’s appeal Monday, a judge in Little Rock, Ark., could have ordered the president to answer questions under oath by this fall about his actions on May 8, 1991.

In her lawsuit, Jones claims the then-Arkansas governor invited her to a Little Rock hotel room that day and crudely propositioned her. Clinton, through his lawyer, says the incident never happened.

Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, was apparently dismayed by the further delay. “She thinks the president is a ‘coward.’ And that is a quote,” said Joseph Cammarata, a Fairfax, Va., attorney who is representing her.

Jones says she initially sought an apology from Clinton but filed a lawsuit seeking $700,000 in damages after the president’s aides labeled her a liar. “If this is a baseless suit and he is innocent, then why is he running from it?” Cammarata asked.

Previous presidents, from Thomas Jefferson through Ronald Reagan, have responded to queries involving criminal cases. For example, Clinton recently testified via videotape in a Whitewater-related bank fraud trial in Little Rock.

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Regarding civil suits, however, the Supreme Court has held that presidents are entirely immune from civil damage suits arising from their “official acts.”

Now the court will decide whether a sitting president has any immunity for alleged actions that have nothing to do with his official duties.

Clinton’s lawyer, Robert S. Bennett of Washington, argued in his appeal (Clinton vs. Jones, 95-1853) that a president is too busy to be waylaid by responding to lawsuits.

Jones’ lawsuit also sought damages from Arkansas state trooper Danny Ferguson, whom she accused of escorting her to the hotel suite. But Ferguson’s deposition has also been deferred pending the outcome of Clinton’s claim of immunity.

Until now, no president has faced a damage suit while in office. President Kennedy was sued over a rental car accident in Los Angeles during the 1960 Democratic convention, but the matter was settled shortly after his inauguration without his having to respond.

In January, a federal appeals court in St. Louis rejected Clinton’s argument that a private lawsuit must be deferred while he is in the White House. The 2-1 vote would have allowed Jones’ attorneys to question Clinton and trooper Ferguson under oath.

The Constitution “did not create a monarchy. To the contrary, the president, like all other government officials, is subject to the same laws that apply to all other members of our society,” wrote Judge Pasco Bowman.

Bennett sought further delays and then filed a petition asking the high court to review the matter.

“For the first time in our history, a court has ordered a sitting president to submit, as a defendant, to a civil damages action directed at him personally,” Bennett said.

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His brief caused a flap with military veterans. He asserted Clinton “may be entitled, as commander in chief of the armed forces,” to the same temporary immunity granted active-duty military personnel under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940. In a follow-up brief, he dropped that claim.

The court is expected to hear arguments in the case in January.

If Clinton is reelected and the justices rule in his favor, the lawsuit could be put on hold until 2001. However, if they reject his immunity argument, he may have to answer questions under oath during his second term.

If Clinton is defeated, his immunity claim will be moot by January.