Susan Webber Wright
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Susan Webber Wright (b. 1948) is a United States District Court judge presently serving as the chief judge of the Eastern District of Arkansas. She received national attention when she dismissed Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton in 1998.
Wright was a student of Clinton's in a class on admiralty law while at the University of Arkansas law school; she later challenged him on her grade.
A conservative Republican, Wright worked for the reelection campaign of Republican Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt in 1974, who defeated Clinton by 6,000 votes in what was the future president's first run for political office.
Prior to her appointment to the federal bench, Judge Wright served as a law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.
Wright was appointed to the Western District of Arkansas by President George H.W. Bush on September 21, 1989, to a seat vacated by Judge Elsijane Roy. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 1990. She was later reassigned to the Eastern District of Arkansas, and became chief judge of that court in 1998.
Wright presided over Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton. The claims were based on activity alleged to have taken place when Clinton was Governor of Arkansas and Jones worked in his office. Wright refused to grant Clinton absolute presidential immunity (legal) against the lawsuit, but nonetheless ruled that a sitting president could not be sued and deferred his trial until after his presidential term was over.1 Her order was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed her ruling that Clinton was not entitled to absolute immunity, but reversed as to the stay she imposed on the proceedings so that Jones' lawsuit would continue without delay.2
On April 1, 1998, Wright granted summary judgment to Clinton in a 39-page ruling that expressed exasperation with both Jones and her lawyers, and stated that she believed the case to be without legal merit.3 Jones' appeal to the Eighth Circuit was dismissed when Clinton settled with her out of court.
Wright was also involved with Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Whitewater scandal, and issued numerous rulings that were both favorable and unfavorable to Clinton.
Notes
Note 1: Jones v. Clinton, 869 F.Supp. 690 (E.D. Ark. 1994) (http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cas02.htm)
Note 2: Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997); see full text of the Court's decision (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=520&page=681)
Note 2: Jones v. Clinton, 990 F.Supp. 657 (E.D. Ark. 1998) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/docs/order040198.htm)
External links
- Federal Judicial Center profile of Judge Wright (http://air.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2664)
- Trial Judge in Jones Case, a Republican Appointee, Has Long Known Clinton (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/stories/pj052997.htm), by Susan Schmidt. Washington Post, May 29, 1997.
- Washington Post profile of Wright (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/players/wright.htm)