Jones' claims that she was escorted to Clinton's room in the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 8, 1991. There, he made a move on her and exposed himself – Paula Jones kept quiet about this incident up until 1994, when she filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton.
Initially, the case was represented by two D.C. lawyers, Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata. Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that Jones did not have the means to present she suffered damages and granted Clinton's motion for summary judgement. Clinton and his defense team challenged Jones' right to bring a civil lawsuit against a president for an incident that occurred prior to him becoming the president. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court in 1997, where it unanimously ruled against President Clinton in favor of Paula Jones. Jones' attorneys then asked to resign from the case – they believed that the secured settlement offer, which Jones refused, was the best way to end the case.
What I've found interesting is that it seems that this case never seemed to really affect Clinton politically, other than perhaps more easily portraying him as guilty in the Monica Lewinsky Scandal. I actually did a post earlier on the Gary Hart scandal, but in that case, Hart was not accused of sexual harassment; he was caught in an extramarital affair. That case, however, completely dismantled Hart's campaign for President, unlike Clinton's sexual harassment accusation. Why is that the case? Also, do cases like these warrant a person's exit from politics, or are they mutually exclusive?
ReplyDeleteI think that the case was extremely important because it paved the way for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Good job on the article! I like how you wrote and created the story through the facts presented.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting that Paula Jones waited until 1994 to to file her law suit, a full 3 years after the assault occured. Some may speculate that Jones' motives revolved more around publicity because Clinton was now president, however, her lack of timeliness did not negate the severity of the crime committed. You mentioned that the lawyers questioned whether this civil suit could be brought up even though it occurred before Clinton's Presidency. Do you know why that would be an issue?
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