Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK. LENGTH: Medium
In documents filed in U.S. District Court, Clinton denied allegations by Paula Corbin Jones that he made unwanted sexual advances toward her when he was governor of Arkansas. He also asked that her complaint be dismissed, at least until after he leaves office.
Jones' Fairfax, Va., attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Litigating a private civil-damage lawsuit against a sitting president would compromise the authority and dignity of the office, said Robert Bennett, the president's personal attorney, in an 88-page memorandum filed in support of a motion to dismiss the case.
``To allow such a suit to go forward will establish a novel and dangerous precedent that will do great damage to the institution of the presidency,'' he said in a statement.
It would ``enable those seeking to promote personal or political agendas to place their own selfish interests above those of the American people,'' he said.
The Justice Department is considering filing legal documents supporting Bennett's position. Department lawyers have drafted a friend-of-the-court brief, but no final decision has been made.
Bennett also sought dismissal of proceedings against Danny Ferguson, an Arkansas state trooper and co-defendant in the case. Jones' suit accuses Ferguson of propositioning her on Clinton's behalf. Bennett said that the claims against Ferguson are from the same allegations made against Clinton and that Clinton would be ``an indispensable witness'' in any separate case against the trooper.
The three-page motion and memorandum were among 208 pages of documents filed, including 117 pages of news releases about sexual allegations against the president, newspaper clips and transcripts of Jones' television interviews, along with copies of filings in a civil suit against President Kennedy that eventually was settled out of court.
Bennett's memorandum referred to assertions by Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson that presidents are immune to civil suit, and cited a Supreme Court ruling in 1982 that gave President Nixon immunity from civil suits filed in response to actions he took while in office.
It read, ``Cognizant that no person is above the law, courts nevertheless have recognized that there is an overriding national interest in insulating the presidency from the distractions of private civil litigation, and in assuring that courts do not unduly intrude upon the functioning of the chief executive.''
by CNB