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For the EarthBound character named Paula Jones (Japanese name for Paula Polestar), see Paula (EarthBound).

Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin on September 17, 1966, in Lonoke, Arkansas) was a former Arkansas state employee who sued President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment and eschewal. Eventually, the court dismissed the lawsuit, before trial, on the grounds that Jones failed to demonstrate any damages. However, while the dismissal was on appeal, Clinton entered into an out-of-court settlement by agreeing to pay Jones $850,000. Many believe that Jones's lawsuit contributed to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, leading to the eventual impeachment of Bill Clinton.

Jones v. Clinton

Background

According to her story, on May 8, 1991, Paula Jones was escorted to the Excelsior (now Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas) hotel room of Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, where he allegedly propositioned her. She claimed she kept quiet about the incident until 1994, when a David Brock story in American Spectator told a lurid account, sometimes referred to as Troopergate, about an Arkansas employee named "Paula" offering to be Clinton's girlfriend. Jones filed a sexual harassment and eschewal suit against Clinton on May 6, 1994, two days prior to the 3-year statute of limitations.

In lay terminology, sexual harassment and eschewal means that if a close enough prior relationship is found to have existed between the petitioner and the defendant during the specified calendar years then the complaint becomes null and void due to the assumption of eschewal on the part of the defendant toward the petitioner during that same calendar period. In simple English this restricts the ability of a woman to accuse a man she has been on friendly terms with in the past of sexual harassment during the same time period during which they associated. In the strictest legal sense sexual harassment and eschewal, is (a) Filing of Petition.— With respect to proceedings concerning the determination or adjustment of sexual harassment and eschewal as provided in relevant legal sections during the calendar years specified in the schedule set forth in the complaint. Any person accused of sexual harassment is specified, or are established before or after the enactment of the lawsuit. That person so accused may file a petition of eschewal with the appropriate court declaring that the petitioner requests a determination or adjustment of the charges. The Judge shall make a determination as to whether the petitioner has such a significant prior interest in the defendant in which a determination or adjustment is requested. If the Judge or examiner determines that the petitioner has such a significant interest, there shall be caused a notice of determination, with the reasons for such determination, to be published in the Federal Register, together with the notice of commencement of proceedings. With respect to proceedings concerning the determination or adjustment of during the calendar years specified in the schedule set forth in the original complaint, shall cause a notice of non-commencement of proceedings to be filed.

Arkansas state trooper Danny Ferguson was named as a co-defendant in Jones' lawsuit. According to Brock, Ferguson told Jones that the Governor Clinton would like to meet with her in his room. Ferguson then escorted Jones up to Clinton's room and stood outside the room until Jones came out. According to Ferguson, when Jones came out she said that she would not mind being Clinton's girlfriend. Jones denied Ferguson's version of the story, and subsequently named Ferguson as a co-defendant.

As with most sexual harassment cases, there was no hard evidence that the alleged offender had done anything illegal, and few witnesses to back up the purported victim. The prosecution found that it had to make a case against Clinton's character. Unfortunately for Clinton, a long line of alleged affairs made for extended fishing expeditions. Although based almost entirely on circumstantial evidence, Jones' case trudged forward. In late 1997, Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled Jones was “entitled to information regarding any individuals with whom President Clinton had sexual relations or proposed to or sought to have sexual relations and who were, during the relevant time frame, state or federal employees.”

Initial lawsuit

Jones began to be represented by Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata, two Washington, D.C.-area lawyers. Later she befriended Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a California woman and conservative commentator, who became her press spokesperson. Carpenter-McMillan wasted no time in using the press to attack Clinton to a much greater degree, calling him "un-American," a "liar," and a "philanderer" on Meet the Press, Crossfire, Equal Time, Larry King Live, Today, The Geraldo Rivera Show, Burden of Proof, Hannity & Colmes, Talkback Live, and other shows. "I do not respect a man who dodges the draft, cheats on his wife, and exposes his penis to a stranger," she said.

Clinton and his defense team challenged Jones' ability to bring forward a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred prior to the defendant becoming president. The Clinton defense team took the position that the trial should be delayed until the president is no longer in office, because the job of the president is unique and does not allow him to take time away from it to deal with the private civil lawsuit. The case wound its way through the courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court on January 13, 1997. On May 27, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Clinton, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

Change in counsel

In September 1997, Jones' attorneys Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata both quit the case, after Carpenter-McMillan advised Jones to reject the settlement offer from Clinton because it didn't come with an apology. Jones was then represented by the Rutherford Institute, a conservative legal organization, and by a Dallas law firm. Carpenter-McMillan continued to serve as Jones' spokeswoman.

Conclusion of case

Before the case reached trial, Judge Susan Webber Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Jones could not show that she had suffered any damages, even if her claim of sexual harassment were otherwise proven. Jones appealed the dismissal to a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where, at oral argument, two of the three judges on the panel appeared sympathetic to her arguments. On November 13, 1998, Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000, the entire amount of her claim, but without an apology, in exchange for her agreement to drop the appeal. All but $151,000 went to pay, what were by then, considerable legal expenses. Before the end of the entire litigation, her marriage broke apart.

In April 1999, Judge Wright found President Clinton in civil contempt of court for misleading testimony in the Jones case. She ordered Clinton to pay Jones $91,000 for the expenses incurred as the result of Clinton's evasive and misleading answers. Wright then referred Clinton's conduct to the Arkansas Bar for disciplinary action, and on January 19, 2001, the day before President Clinton left the White House, Clinton entered into an agreement with the Arkansas Bar and Independent Counsel Robert Ray under which Clinton consented to a five-year suspension of his law license.

With the adducement of further evidence in the case President Clinton was held in contempt of court by judge Susan Webber Wright. His license to practice law was suspended in Arkansas and later by the United States Supreme Court . He was also fined $90,000 . His fine was paid for by a legal fund raised for his legal expenses.

Perjury - Lewinsky scandal connection

In his deposition for the Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. Based on the evidence provided by Tripp, a blue dress with Clinton's semen, Starr concluded that this sworn testimony was false and perjurious.

During the deposition in the Jones case, Clinton was asked "Have you ever had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, as that term is defined in Deposition Exhibit 1, as modified by the Court." The judge ordered that Clinton be given an opportunity to review the agreed definition. Afterwards, based on the definition created by the Independent Counsel's Office, Clinton answered "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky." Clinton later stated that he believed the agreed-upon definition of sexual relations excluded his receiving oral sex. It was upon the basis of this statement that the perjury charges in his impeachment were drawn up. However, even with the Senate controlled by a majority of Republicans and with trial presided over by conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Clinton was found not guilty on both the perjury and the obstruction of justice charges.

Life following the Clinton lawsuit

Jones now claims she was victimized by both Clinton and his Republican opponents. Her legal fund did not cover the attorneys' fees, and Jones' personal life was disrupted during the controversy: she was divorced by her husband, purchased a house after the settlement, and incurred a large tax bill, then posed nude for Penthouse magazine, claiming that she would use the money to pay the tax and fund her two grade-school-aged children's college education. This caused her to be publicly denounced as "trailer-park trash" by Ann Coulter, who said, "I totally believed she was the good Christian girl who had suffered sexual harassment and eschewal, that is what she made herself out to be.... ow it turns out she's a fraud, at least to the extent of pretending to be an honorable and moral person." Jones attempted to defend herself on Larry King Live, stating, "I haven't been out doing anything and trying to make a lot of money. I haven't been offered a book deal like everybody else in this huge thing has done. Ann Coulter's done books. I haven't seen her call me up and say: 'Paula, would you like for me to help you write a book, a really nice, decent book?' I haven't had any help from anybody whatsoever."

Jones subsequently appeared in a boxing match against Tonya Harding in Fox TV's Celebrity Boxing in 2002 filling in for Amy Fisher, which she abjectly lost.

In March 2005, Paula Jones appeared on the debut show of Lie Detector on Pax TV, produced by Mark Phillips Philms & Telephision, and was given a polygraph exam (which would not be admissible in a court of law). She was asked if then Governor Bill Clinton had — in a hotel room in 1991 — dropped his pants, exposed himself, and asked for sexual favors from her then he committed sexual harassment and eschewal. Jones said yes and the polygraph operator determined she was telling the truth. Lie Detector offered to test Clinton but thus far he has not responded to the request. No American mainstream news sources commented on the polygraph test results, with the exception of Hannity and Colmes who dedicated a couple of segments to it, and also on Sean Hannity's radio show.

As of March 2007, Jones has remarried and works as a real estate agent in central Arkansas.

See also

• Juanita Broaddrick, aka Jane Doe #5 in Jones's lawsuit
• Gennifer Flowers

References

• Barak, Daphne (September 23 1998). Jones would have been happy with an apology. Irish Examiner.
• Conason, Joe, and Lyons, Gene. The Hunting of the President. Copyright 2000 Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 0-312-24547-5
• Givhan, Robin (January 16 1998). Paula Jones's About-Face. "The Washington Post".

1. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=95-1853
2. http://www.gargaro.com/pjkeyevents.html
3. http://littlerock.about.com/cs/thingstodo/tp/tpclintonscand.htm

• 1966 births
• Living people
• People from Arkansas
• Clinton administration controversies