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The Paula Jones lawsuit

The Paula Jones lawsuit has occupied the attention of the news media for a long time, and even with the discovery of new scandals about President Clinton, the Jones suit has remained a central issue. Other scandals are talked about as if they were related to the Jones suit. This makes the dismissal of the lawsuit on April 1, 1998 a major event, and it has been treated as such in the news media. This does not mean the lawsuit or its dismissal have clear meanings, and the way each has been talked about shows that the media cannot decide a number of things about the case or about the fact that it has been dismissed. In the early hours after the dismissal, the media speculated about what this meant--did it mean the case was over, would it be appealed, what does this say about the issues involved, and so on.

John Riley and Shirley E. Perlman in Newsday announced that the suit had been dismissed by a federal judge in Arkansas who said that Paul Jones's "case was 'without merit' and her evidence fell 'far short' of the standard needed to go to a jury" (A4). This decision came after several weeks of speculation about what the decision would be. Each side had presented evidence and argument to the court, and the court had to decide not whether the case was proved but whether there was enough evidence to have a case at all. Most analysts believed the case was weak but that it would be lost at trial rather than in this proceeding, and now the court had decided that the case was so weak it should not continue at all. Obviously, this was a surprise to many people. From the response, it seemed to be a surprise to both sides in the case as well.

This article explains the issues involved. The authors note that the case was to begin May 27 and that now this would not happen. Even if there is an appeal, it will be a long time before that aspect of the case is decided. The authors also note that while this means Clinton will not ha...

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The Paula Jones lawsuit. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:11, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1690901.html