Paula Jones and the Case Against Televised Trials
Recently a Federal Appellate Court in St. Louis ruled that our president
Bill Clinton can in fact stand trial in the Sexual Harrassment suit brought
against him by Paula Jones while in office. The president's attorney's had
secured a delay from the court of primary jurisdiction because their client
is the most powerful man in the world, and should not be brought to trial
until his executive office term had expired. Well, the appeals court disagreed.
This does not mean however that the appeals process is exhausted for the president, but it does bring back to life another of the endless supply of haunting experiences from the pasts of Bill and Hillary Clinton. In my opinion the notion that Bill Clinton might be a philandering liar is (yawn...) old news. What is most disturbing is that should he be reelected, this trial might be televised.
I am not sure exactly what constitutes Sexual Harrassment, but this matter introduces the alleged act of Bill Clinton exposing himself to Ms. Jones in a Little Rock hotel room. This seems like some kind of perversion to me, and is more akin to the guys with raincoats at the XX movies (No Offense Pee Wee) than harrassment. The plaintiff though has stated that she can identify the president's sexual organ due to some of its "distinguishing characteristics. "
Here is a portion of the statement of facts from the original petition filed by Paula Corbin Jones in the U.S. District court For the Eastern District of Arkansas (Civil action No. LR-C-94-290)
14. Jones knocked on the door frame and Clinton answered. Plaintiff entered. Ferguson remained outside.
15. The room was furnished as a business suite, not for an overnight hotel guest. It contained a couch and chairs, but no bed.
16. Clinton shook Jones' hand, invited her in, and closed the door.
17. A few minutes of small talk ensued, which included asking Jones about her job. Clinton told Jones that Dave Harrington is "my good friend." On May 8, 1991, David Harrington was Director of the AIDC, having been appointed to that post by Governor Clinton. Harrington was Jones' ultimate superior within the AIDC.
18. Clinton then took Jones' hand and pulled her toward him, so that their bodies were in close proximity.
19. Jones removed her hand from his and retreated several feet.
20. However, Clinton approached Jones again. He said: "I love the way your hair flows down your back" and "I love your curves." While saying these things, Clinton put his hand on Plaintiff's leg and started sliding it toward the hem of Plaintiff's culottes. Clinton also bent down to attempt to kiss Jones on the neck.
21. Jones exclaimed, "What are you doing?" and escaped from Clinton's physical proximity by walking away from him. Jones tried to distract Clinton by chatting with him about his wife. Jones later took a seat at the end of the sofa nearest the door. Clinton asked Jones: "Are you married?" She responded that she had a regular boyfriend. Clinton then approached the sofa and as he sat down he lowered his trousers and underwear exposing his erect penis and asked Jones to "kiss it."
22. There were distinguishing characteristics in Clinton's genital area that were obvious to Jones.
23. Jones became horrified, jumped up from the couch, stated that she was "not that kind of girl" and said: "Look, I've got to go." She attempted to explain that she would get in trouble for being away from the registration desk.
24. Clinton, while fondling his penis said: "Well, I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do." Clinton then stood up and pulled up his pants and said: "If you get in trouble for leaving work, have Dave call me immediately and I'll take care of it." As Jones left the room Clinton looked sternly at Jones and said: "You are smart. Let's keep this between ourselves."
I think I speak for a lot of Americans when I say YUCK!
First of all, in a court of law how would this be presented to the jury? Does the president of the United States have to approach the bench or jury box, and drop his pants? Would Ms. Jones be required to pick his pecker out of a lineup? During the questioning of potential jurors, would they have to weed out all the people who have seen this thing? Will it be ruled inadmissable if it is not erect? Will Geraldo bring in a panel of presidential penis prognosticators? Maybe now you can start to see why I believe there is cause for concern.
Whatever the outcome of the appeals process, I think the preceding paragraph conveys the idea that this could be an ugly trial. I mean really ugly. The potential nightmare of having Bill Clinton's weenie (or images of said weenie) admitted as evidence makes the strongest case yet for removing TV cameras from our nation's courtrooms. If Bill Clinton was willing to accept the risks of his little attempt to "Free Willie" in that hotel room, that is one thing. I think it would be quite another to put the trial on TV.
Coming Soon-Did the president use good judgement in thinking this move
would turn on a woman he had never met? If not, how could he improve his
technique?
Apparently the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that President Clinton's job is just too important to give Paula Jones her day in court until after the election in November. This must be in reference to the damage control on the recently discovered FBI files in the possession of Whitehouse staffers. The people stalling subpoenas and covering this thing up definitely need the commander in chief around to run the operation properly. This is a fair ruling. I would hate to see the president lose ground in one lawsuit because another lawsuit took up too much of his time. Once again the checks and balances of this great land are working smoothly.