Susan Webber Wright
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Susan Webber Wright (née Carter; born August 1, 1948) is a senior United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (in case citations, E.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appea ...
. Wright is a former judge on the
United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a United States federal courts, U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests ...
. She received national attention when she first dismissed the
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
brought by Paula Jones against
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in 1998, and then, in 1999, found Clinton to be in civil
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...
.


Early life, education, and career

Born in
Texarkana, Arkansas Texarkana is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Miller County, on the southwest border of the state. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 29,387. It is the twin city of Texarkana, Texas, located just acros ...
, Wright received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1970 and a
Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...
from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1973. She received her
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from
University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a State university system, state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M ...
in 1975. While there, she was a student of future president Bill Clinton in his course on
admiralty law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and conflict of laws, private international law governing the relations ...
; she later challenged him on her grade. The dispute occurred after Clinton lost all the exams and offered students a B+; Wright had desired an A and, after negotiating with Clinton's then-fiancé, Hillary Rodham, Clinton agreed to give Wright an A. A conservative Republican, Wright worked for the reelection campaign of Republican Representative
John Paul Hammerschmidt John Paul Hammerschmidt (May 4, 1922 – April 1, 2015) was an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A Republican, Hammerschmidt served thirteen terms in the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 3rd congressional ...
in 1974. Upon graduation, Wright served as a
law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...
to J. Smith Henley of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...
from 1975-76. She was a member of the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law from 1976–90, as an assistant professor and assistant dean from 1976–78, associate professor from 1980–83, and full professor from 1983-90. She was a research assistant to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention in 1979, and a visiting professor, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law in 1980, to the Ohio State University College of Law in 1981, and to the Louisiana State University Law Center from 1982-83.


Federal judicial service

Recommended by Hammerschmidt, Wright was appointed to both the Eastern District of Arkansas and the Western District of Arkansas by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
on September 21, 1989, both seats having been vacated by Elsijane Trimble Roy. Wright was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
on January 23, 1990, and received her commission the following day. On December 1, 1990, she was reassigned to serve only on the Eastern District of Arkansas. Wright served as chief judge of that District from 1998 to 2005. She took senior status on August 22, 2013. Wright also 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 The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...
and Jones worked in his office. Wright refused to grant Clinton absolute presidential
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...
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. The ruling to keep Jones from suing Clinton, while he was still president, was overturned by the Eighth Circuit. Clinton then petitioned the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
to consider Wright's ruling. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, thus allowing Jones' suit to go to trial while Clinton was still in office. On April 1, 1998, Wright granted
summary judgment In law, a summary judgment, also referred to as judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition, is a Judgment (law), judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summa ...
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. Jones' appeal to the Eighth Circuit was dismissed when Clinton
settled A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...
with her out of court. On April 12, 1999, Wright issued an order finding Bill Clinton to be in civil contempt of court. Describing Clinton's conduct repeatedly as "contumacious", Webber wrote: "The record demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the President responded to plaintiff aula Joness questions by giving false, misleading, and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process ... It is difficult to construe the President's sworn statements in this civil lawsuit concerning his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky as anything other than a willful refusal to obey this court's discovery orders.... Simply put, the President's deposition testimony regarding whether he had ever been alone with Ms. Lewinsky was intentionally false, and his statements regarding whether he had ever engaged in sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky likewise were intentionally false, notwithstanding tortured definitions and interpretations of the term 'sexual relations'." Wright was also involved with
Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who as Special prosecutor, independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an i ...
's investigation of the
Whitewater scandal The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill Clinton, Bill and Hillary Clint ...
, and issued numerous rulings, partly favorable and partly unfavorable, to Clinton. Notably, Wright imprisoned
Susan McDougal Susan Carol McDougal (née Henley; born June 27, 1955) is a real estate investor who served prison time as a result of the Whitewater controversy. Her refusal to answer "three questions" for a grand jury, on whether President Bill Clinton lied ...
for the maximum 18 months for civil
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...
when McDougal refused to answer "three questions" about whether Clinton lied in his testimony. Wright was appointed to a seven-year term on the
United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also called the FISA Court, is a United States federal courts, U.S. federal court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests ...
by Chief Justice John Roberts. She was appointed on May 18, 2009, and her term expired on May 18, 2016.


Personal life

In 1983, Wright married Robert R. Wright III, law professor and co-founder of The
University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...
's law school. Together Robert and Susan had a daughter, Robin. On June 4, 2006, Robert R. Wright III, aged 74, died.


References


External links

*
''Trial Judge in Jones Case, a Republican Appointee, Has Long Known Clinton''
by Susan Schmidt. ''Washington Post'', May 29, 1997.
Washington Post profile of Wright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Susan Webber 1948 births Living people Arkansas Republicans American legal scholars Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Clinton–Lewinsky scandal Louisiana State University faculty Ohio State University faculty People from Texarkana, Arkansas Randolph College alumni United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush University of Arkansas alumni University of Arkansas School of Law alumni University of Arkansas School of Law faculty Whitewater controversy Judges of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court American women legal scholars 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges