Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [150]
Dellinger later fell into bed, dreaming about the moment when he would stand up at the lectern to argue the historic Clinton v. Jones case, and wishing he could shout out to the justices: “You think this stuff isn’t distracting? You know what the president was doing last night into the late hours? He’s worrying about this litigation!”
ON Monday, January 13, 1997, demonstrators paraded in front of the Supreme Court. Some were dressed as “flashers” in trench coats, to mock President Bill Clinton. Others chanted out denunciations of Paula Jones as a publicity seeker and money grubber. Gil Davis, the advocate for Jones, had just announced his intention to run for attorney general of Virginia. As he walked up the marble steps, he now paused to gaze at the words chiseled into the stone of the marble edifice: EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW. The self-described country lawyer, butterflies fluttering in his stomach, felt that he was ready.
The front page of USA Today, beside its top story that Green Bay and New England would clash in Super Bowl XXXL, contained a full-page spread about Clinton v. Jones. “Neither Paula Jones nor President Clinton will be at the Supreme Court today,” the article noted. It would be up to the lawyers and the nine justices to determine whether this “steamy litigation” should go forward. One commentator told the paper that this case, more than any other on the Court’s docket, had captured the public’s attention. “It has sex and all the elements.”
Inside the stately velvet-draped courtroom, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist rocked backward in his chair, which was upholstered with a special padding to ease the pain for his bad back. Rehnquist checked the clock, then nodded toward the counsel table. Bob Bennett was first to step up to the ancient wooden lectern.
“Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the Court,” Bennett began, straightening his notes. “I am here this morning on behalf of the President of the United States, who has asked this Court to defer a private civil damage suit for money damages against him until he leaves office …” Those were the only two sentences of prepared text that Bennett would get out of his mouth. He was immediately peppered with questions: What was the scope of this immunity the president was requesting? Should it cover the president even for acts that he had committed that had nothing to do with official duties? Wasn’t such an immunity from civil suit unprecedented?
Acting Solicitor General Dellinger, dressed in his de rigueur swallowtail coat, was likewise met with skepticism when he walked to the lectern, arguing that the president’s time should not be wasted on civil lawsuits. Justice Antonin Scalia cut in: “But we see Presidents riding horseback, chopping firewood, fishing for stick fish …” He was interrupted by a burst of laughter from the gallery. Justice Scalia added that if President Clinton was prepared to swear “that he’ll never be seen playing golf for the rest of his administration,” perhaps Dellinger’s position could be taken more seriously.
Gil Davis, as he took his turn to argue on behalf of Paula Jones, deftly reached down and raised the lectern using its ancient hand-crank. The noise of the gears caused Chief Justice Rehnquist to stop, cocking his ear. This gave Davis enough time to deliver his single opening line that he had resolved to get out: “President William Jefferson Clinton,” the Virginia lawyer told the justices, “[has] confused the office of presidency, which has privileges