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ones. Given what many commentators have described as the hostility of the press to Bill Clinton, he is better off in the courts than in the public arena. An individual claiming to represent Paula Jones wrote to ask if I would assist her. But a copy of a contract mailed to me focused more on creating an agent-client relationship—in the event Ms. Jones got magazine, book, television, or movie contracts—than it did on creating an attorney-client relationship. I was uncomfortable with an approach that focused so heavily on the media. And before I could decline the request, Ms. Jones and her representatives held a press conference in Washington, D.C. I thought it ironic that I, the person routinely described in the press as “reclusive,” should be contacted as a source of media promotion. The choice to pursue the legal claim in such a manner was a bad one for Ms. Jones. As a private citizen with limited public exposure, she does not have the resources to handle the kind of media barrage that she will encounter if she attempts to settle this issue through the media. Moreover, I question the strategy of insisting that the case be tried during Bill Clinton’s second term as president. I believe Ms. Jones will fare better as a plaintiff in a suit against a former president than in a suit against a sitting president. Like or dislike Bill Clinton, many prospective jurors have a respect for the office that will put her at a disadvantage in issues of credibility.

As shameful as it will be for her if Jones’ claim is false, the issue will endure. The same is true if her claim is valid. The momentum built by those women who in 1991 found their voices is much stronger than any one claim—even one directed at the president of the United States. The force of the movement they started is stronger than the politics of Bill Clinton. So widespread is the experience of harassment that the issue transcends the partisanship of any particular case in which it is raised. I have encountered numerous women who are livid about the issue of sexual harassment but who cannot recall Clarence Thomas’ name, much less the politics that led to his judicial appointment. Their image of the hearing goes beyond partisan politics to the callousness and hostility of the White House and the Republican senators, and the indifference of the Democrats’ response to the claim. The sense of community developed from the hearing has continued long after my testimony and the Senate vote to confirm Clarence Thomas, and it will endure beyond Ms. Jones’ claim against Bill Clinton, whatever the outcome.

Though I had not practiced law for many years, as a member of the bar and a law professor, the law was more to me than the rules and remedies which people sought out to solve their problems. The law was a profession and an avocation. In May 1992 I received an honorary doctor of law degree from New College in San Francisco. Its president, Peter Gabel, is an advocate of change and examination of issues of the poor and oppressed, through compassionate affirmation of our common interests and experiences. When I spoke to the students at the graduation ceremony, I tried to impress upon them the positive contributions that went along with the challenges that they would no doubt face as lawyers. The hearing and the aftermath represented both to me.

Following the hearing, the lawyers and law professors who came to my rescue had become like family. I was proud to be associated with people who would volunteer their time out of a sense of fairness and a commitment to the confirmation process. Thus, when the ABA Section on Women in the Profession announced that it would give me a special recognition, I was proud to accept. One of the organizers of the event described it as the “hottest ticket in town.” Approximately three thousand members of the association and their guests attended the function. I was even more pleased to travel to San Francisco for the August 1992 meeting because Justice Thurgood Marshall would be featured and honored at a number of events.

The entire meeting had, according