{"id":54758,"date":"2023-08-29T12:49:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/supreme\/supreme-court-insights\/clinton-v-jones-case-summary.html"},"modified":"2024-07-01T14:45:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T19:45:59","slug":"clinton-v-jones-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"supreme","link":"https:\/\/supreme.findlaw.com\/supreme-court-insights\/clinton-v-jones-case-summary.html","title":{"rendered":"Clinton v. Jones Case Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Clinton v. Jones Case Summary<\/h1>\n
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\n By Laura Temme, Esq.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Joseph Fawbush, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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In 1994, the United States Supreme Court held that a president is not immune from litigation based on their private conduct. The justices assumed that a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton wouldn’t take up too much of his time. Little did they know it would lead to his impeachment. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

Paula Corbin Jones filed a lawsuit in 1994 alleging that President Bill Clinton had sexually harassed her when he was governor of Arkansas. By the time she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, he was president — and claimed the presidency made him immune to civil litigation.<\/p>\r\n

The case led to an important ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997. It also propelled former White House intern Monica Lewinsky into the national spotlight when court documents became public.<\/p>\r\n

The Supreme Court held that nothing in the Constitution protects the president from civil lawsuits while they are in office. And President Clinton was eventually\u00a0impeached for lying under oath<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Background<\/h2>\r\n

Jones met then-Governor William Jefferson Clinton in the lobby of the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was working, handing out name tags for a conference on May 8, 1991. Jones said that during the conference, a local police officer named Danny Ferguson brought her to a private hotel room to meet Clinton. Jones alleged that Clinton crudely propositioned her to perform oral sex on him, but she rejected his advances.<\/p>\r\n

Jones kept quiet about the incident for more than two years, fearing no one would believe her. But she finally emerged with her story in 1994 when American Spectator Magazine ran an article that implied someone named “Paula” had been a willing sexual partner of Clinton’s.<\/p>\r\n

From the start, Clinton denied any wrongdoing. He accused Jones of being an opportunist who went public with her story to make money and harm him politically. But Jones said that after she refused his sexual advances, she faced punishment in her job as an Arkansas state employee.<\/p>\r\n

Procedural History<\/h2>\r\n

On August 10, 1994, Clinton filed a motion to dismiss Jones’s suit on the grounds of\u00a0presidential immunity<\/a>. He argued that allowing private actions to proceed against a sitting president would:<\/p>\r\n