Judges Susan Webber Wright and Norma Holloway Johnson's Crucial Roles in President Clinton's Legal Fate

Strategic Insights -

The two federal judges presiding over the high-profile cases against President Clinton, Susan Webber Wright and Norma Holloway Johnson, are crucial to his fate in the coming weeks. Wright, a conservative Republican, will rule on whether to dismiss Paula Jones' sexual harassment case, while Johnson, a no-nonsense judge, will oversee Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of the President's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky. Their approach to the law and courtroom styles offer insight into how they might handle these cases with so much at stake for the President.

Key Takeaways:

  • Wright, a former law school professor and conservative Republican, will rule on whether to dismiss the Jones case, determining whether it becomes a spectacle or a short, narrowly prescribed case about sexual harassment.
  • Johnson, a former junior high school teacher, will oversee Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's Lewinsky investigation, facing thorny questions about immunity for Lewinsky, executive privilege, and sanctions against Starr.
  • Johnson has a reputation as a no-nonsense judge who demands respect, but has been described as testy and stubborn by some defense lawyers.
  • In 1996, a federal appeals court panel reversed one of Johnson's rulings in a criminal case, noting she was too hostile to the defendant and the defense attorney.
  • Wright has known Clinton since 1974, when she took his course in admiralty law at the University of Arkansas law school, but challenged him over her grade in the course.
  • Wright has ruled on several important issues in Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Clinton's failed Whitewater investigation, sometimes siding with the Clintons and other times against them.

Statistics:

  • 17 months: the prison sentence handed down to former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski by Judge Johnson on corruption charges.
  • 20 years: the length of Judge Johnson's career on the bench.
  • 3: the number of important issues Wright has ruled on in Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation.
  • 1: the grade Wright gave Clinton in her admiralty law course at the University of Arkansas law school.

Sources:

  • "Clinton's Judges" by Yvonne Shinhoster, Washington (c) 1998, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.