U.S. Supreme Court Disbars Bill Clinton; 40 Days To Contest
October 1, 2001Back to the Bill Clinton's Role in This Attack Page
Back to the Clinton Criminal PageBob's Note: Hey Kids, Guess What! Big mouth BJ decided not to contest his disbarrment from the Supreme Court. Click here to go to the first of these articles.
The Supreme Court ordered Clinton disbarred from practicing law before the high court; gave him 40 days to contest... Did not explain its reasons, but Supreme Court disbarment often follows disbarment in lower courts... No fines associated... Order did not mention any vote by the justices... CAUGHT OFF GUARD: Clinton lawyer Kendall did not immediately return calls seeking comment... MORE
Clinton Disbarred From Supreme Court
By Anne Gearan
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Oct. 1, 2001; 10:48 a.m. EDTWASHINGTON –– The Supreme Court ordered former President Clinton disbarred from practicing law before the high court on Monday and gave him 40 days to contest the order.
The court did not explain its reasons, but Supreme Court disbarment often follows disbarment in lower courts.
In April, Clinton's Arkansas law license was suspended for five years and he paid a $25,000 fine. The original disbarment lawsuit was brought by a committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court.
There are no fines associated with the Supreme Court action. Most lawyers who are admitted to the Supreme Court bar never actually argue a case there, but the right to do so is considered an honor.
Clinton agreed to the Arkansas fine and suspension Jan. 19, the day before he left office, as part of an understanding with Independent Counsel Robert Ray to end the Monica Lewinsky investigation.
The agreement also satisfied the legal effort by the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct to disbar Clinton for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
The Supreme Court followed its standard rules in the Clinton case, which include suspending Clinton from practice in the court and giving him 40 day to show why he should not be permanently disbarred.
The court order did not mention any vote by the justices.
"Whenever a member of the bar of this court has been disbarred or suspended from practice of any court of record, or has engaged in conduct unbecoming a member of the bar of this court, the court will enter an order suspending that member from practice before this court," Supreme Court rules say.
Julia Payne, a spokeswoman for Clinton, referred calls to his lawyer, David Kendall, in Washington. Kendall did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
Clinton to contest Supreme Court suspension
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton will contest Monday's Supreme Court order that suspended him from practicing law before the high court, his attorney said.
The Supreme Court gave Clinton 40 days to argue why he should not be permanently disbarred.
"This suspension is simply a consequence of the voluntary settlement entered into last January with the Arkansas bar. Pursuant to the Supreme Court's order, we will show cause why disbarment is not appropriate," said attorney David E. Kendall.
As is its custom, the Supreme Court offered no explanation for the order. Court observers said such suspensions nearly always lead to permanent disbarments.
In January, Clinton reached an agreement with independent counsel Robert Ray that suspended his Arkansas law license for five years and ordered the former president to pay $25,000 in fines to that state's bar officials. Clinton also gave up any claim of repayment of his legal fees in the matter.
In return, Ray ended the 7-year Whitewater probe that shadowed most of Clinton's two terms in the White House. (Bob's Note: Ken Starr and later Robert Ray were both CHOSEN BY BJ CLINTON to investigate him. In each case and others conducted by Robert Fiske and other congressmen the fix was in. Each and every one of these legal imbeciles threw the cases against Clinton to avoid impeaching him. It got so bad with Ken Starr that rather than impeaching Clinton for stealing and then using information from 1,000 FBI files for extortion against the Republican members of Congress he instead pursued a fluff case of Monica Lewinsky. He also could have pursued Chinagate where Clinton let China steal most of America's nuclear secrets in exchange for millions of dollars in campaign money which is treason. That act during war merits the death penalty. Richard Nixon, by the way, resigned the presidency for looking at the contents of ONE SINGLE FBI file.)
The Arkansas Supreme Court's Committee on Professional Conduct initially called for Clinton's disbarment last year, saying he lied about his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton was asked about Lewinsky during a January 1998 deposition in a sexual harassment suit brought by Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee. His attempt to conceal the affair while under oath led to his 1998 impeachment and 1999 acquittal by the Senate. (Bob's Note: You can read more about the criminally negligent actions of the House of Reprentatives and the Senate in the Clinton Criminal Pages in the Freedom section Politicians: Liars, Thieves, and Control Freaks. Naturally, the truth about this case will not be printed in ANY left wing liberal rag like this AOL-TIME/WARNER conglomerate article.)
The U.S. Supreme Court has never disbarred a former president, said presidential historian and author Stanley Kutler, emeritus professor of history and law at University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Bob's Note: That's because they never had a sociopathic president commiting crimes aided and abetted by a totally controlled tv and print media, criminally acting Democraps in control, and gutless Republican'ts. Maybe I should clarify that a little, Repub-lick-ants.)
Richard Nixon -- disbarred from the New York bar in 1976, two years after he resigned the presidency -- resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court bar before any action was taken, said Kutler, who is perhaps best known for his 1997 book, "Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes." (Bob's Note: Here the AOL-TIME/WARNER company tries to make it sound like, "well, he did it too." No Nixon didn't. Nixon had a group of idiots led by G. Gordon Liddy named "the plumbers" who overzealously went about the task of spying on the Democratic challenger who I think was George McGovern, a weak candidate from the northeast. These guys were caught in the act. Nixon tried to cover for their actions rather than coming clean. He managed to win the election despite the growing publicity about the breakin. As time went on, the seamy side of his Vice-President, Spiro Agnew, accepting kickbacks from a construction firm became known. Then more and more revelations were dug up by the famous reporters Woodward and Bernstein who later wrote, "All the President's Men." Nixon, a religious Quaker, felt intense grief and embarrassment and rather than put the country through an impeachment he quietly resigned to private life. He went to New York and literally tried to give up his license to practice law in the State of New York. The vindictive liberal New York lawyers refused his offer to give up his law license and insisted on impeaching and then disbarring him just to embarrass him even more. He was crushed because he was a man with a conscience and a sense of honor. Nixon never, ever, was hinted at for cheating on his wife, molesting hotel managers, rape, sodomy, for accepting bribes from foreign officials, never for dismantling the security apparatus and then allowing a foreign power to completely rape the secrets of his nation. He was only ACCUSED of covering up for underlings who did something unethical. PERIOD! But in this crappy left wing God-Damned piece of shit article they try to use "moral equivalence" to make it seem as if Richard Nixon is just as bad as Bill "masturbate in the sink after the blow job" Clinton! AOL-TIME/WARNER SHOULD BE SUED FOR LIBEL BY THE NIXON ESTATE! Clinton on the other hand hinted broadly that he wanted to run for a third term and violate the two term CONSTITUTIONAL limit. The operating definition of a sociopath is a man with NO CONSCIENCE. That's BJ!)
Nixon, who argued one case before the Supreme Court before becoming president, also resigned from the California bar.
The decision on Clinton came as the Supreme Court opened its 2001-2002 session.
With U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson looking on, Chief Justice William Rehnquist opened the court term by recognizing "the terrible loss" caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks and expressed condolences to Olson over his wife's death.
Barbara Olson was a passenger on the hijacked jet that crashed into the Pentagon.
"Before we hear the first argument, let us take a moment to recognize the terrible loss caused by the terrorist attacks on America that occurred on September 11," Rehnquist said.
"I know our hearts go out to the families of those killed and injured. We extend our condolences to the Solicitor General of the United States Theodore Olson for the loss of his wife Barbara.
"In the aftermath of the attacks we have witnessed extraordinary bravery and compassion from Americans from all walks of life. Let us take a moment to grieve with those who mourn, and honor those who have heroically performed their duty," Rehnquist said.
Olson sat in the front bench, flanked by former solicitors general Kenneth Starr and Seth Waxman.
Olson, as solicitor general, leads the Justice Department attorneys who argue cases on behalf of the U.S. government.
In the two cases argued Monday, assistants to Olson defended the government's position. Olson is scheduled to argue the government's case for the first time in a case next week.
© 2001 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
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WHAT IT MEANS
What prompted the court's action? The Supreme Court routinely suspends lawyers from appearing before it if they have been suspended or disbarred by courts elsewhere.
Clinton accepted a five-year suspension of his Arkansas law license as part of the agreement that closed the Whitewater investigation. (Bob's Note: This was a "fix" set up by Robert Ray who was literally chosen by BJ Clinton to throw the case.)
What's next? Clinton has 40 days to argue against disbarment, and his spokesman said he would fight.
What would the impact be? If the court acts, Clinton would become the first former president to be disbarred by the high court. The action would be mostly symbolic, however: Clinton has never personally argued before the court.
Bob's Note: Please notice the gigantic difference between the Clinton Suckup article above and the far more polished and informative article below by Frank J. Murray of the Washington Times.
The Washington Times
www.washtimes.com
High court moves to disbar Clinton
Frank J. Murray
THE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished 10/2/2001
The Supreme Court yesterday suspended former President Bill Clinton's privilege to practice law before the high court and began a mechanism to disbar him by Thanksgiving for lying under oath in the Paula Jones case.
The long-awaited disciplinary action — combined with the virtually automatic disbarment to follow in 40 days — delighted old adversaries who sought Mr. Clinton's "disbarment" and not just "suspension" from practicing law.
"He has a snowball's chance in Afghanistan to ever win any of that. This is the final chapter," said Phil Kent, president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which filed one of two complaints that led to Mr. Clinton's five-year suspension in Arkansas.
Yesterday's "show-cause order" to the ex-president was issued after the fall term's opening ceremony, during which justices paused for a moment of prayer or contemplation for Sept. 11 terrorism victims.
Among 2,000 or so orders disposing of cases accumulated over the summer recess were some that resonate coincidentally in the new national security climate.
Justices rebuffed six Japanese petitioners who an appeals court said were 50 years too late in seeking payment for WWII internments, refused to consider an attack on racial profiling, and let stand a company's discipline of a Muslim who wore her head scarf to work at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The Clinton suspension order was issued after the high court learned formally of discipline in Arkansas on Jan. 19, his last full day in office, as part of a plea-bargain that averted criminal charges by independent counsel Robert Ray.
Clinton lawyer David E. Kendall promised to challenged the high court's order. "This suspension is simply a consequence of the voluntary settlement entered into last January with the Arkansas bar," Mr. Kendall said. "Pursuant to the Supreme Court's order, we will show cause why disbarment is not appropriate."
The action drew quick comment from the Landmark and Southeastern legal foundations, which lobbied for Mr. Clinton's disbarment in Arkansas. It also drew approval from Fairfax lawyer Gilbert K. Davis, who won the 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in 1997 that began the legal discovery process in which the president was caught lying under oath about whether he had sexual relations with former intern Monica Lewinsky.
"The Supreme Court is probably the most important place to do this, because this is the court that decided 9-0 that the Jones versus Clinton case had to go forward, and when it went forward he cheated, in essence thumbing his nose at the highest court in the land," Mr. Davis said.
With some irony, the suspension and show-cause order come three days before Thursday's hearing in Richmond on whether Mrs. Jones must face civil charges that her legal defense fund violated charitable-solicitation laws by mailing nearly 1 million solicitation letters.
"It was only a matter of time before justice and history would catch up with Clinton," said Landmark president Mark R. Levin, whose group asked U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright in August 1998 to hold the president in contempt for lying at a deposition session seven months earlier.
As part of the deal under which the Arkansas Bar dropped its court case, Mr. Clinton publicly admitted he lied under oath in the Jones v. Clinton case, and he agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for costs and lawyers' fees in addition to the $850,000 he paid Mrs. Jones to settle her lawsuit.
Under terms of the "consent agreement" negotiated with Marie-Bernarde Miller, attorney for the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct, Mr. Clinton avoided being barred for life and kept license No. 73019. If he pays dues to the Arkansas Bar and pursues continuing-education courses to keep up on the law, approval to resume practice would be automatic in 2006.
To be readmitted before the U.S. Supreme Court after being disbarred, however, requires him to practice in good standing for at least three more years after eventual reinstatement in Arkansas.
The only other president stricken from the rolls of the Supreme Court Bar was Richard M. Nixon, who resigned a year before New York disbarred him. His resignation was accepted June 23, 1975, with abstentions by Justices William H. Rehnquist and William Douglas.
During yesterday's extraordinary opening ceremony, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson repeatedly wiped his eyes when Chief Justice Rehnquist singled out Mr. Olson's wife, lawyer and commentator Barbara Olson, who was among the estimated 6,000 terrorism victims.
"I know our hearts go out to the families of those killed and injured," Chief Justice Rehnquist said. "Let us take a moment to grieve with those who mourn, and honor those who have heroically performed their duty."
Some justices bowed their heads while others closed their eyes during a moment reminiscent of Virginia's "moment of silence" in the schools, whose constitutionality was pressed by acting Attorney General Randolph A. Beales in a brief filed yesterday.
The internment case came amid concerns that Arabs or other Muslims living in the United States might be detained — as were Japanese during WWII — simply because all 19 identified hijackers were Islamic extremists with Middle East backgrounds.
The case (Kato v. U.S., 01-07) involved people denied the $20,000 stipends paid under a 1988 law to some 81,000 people who were interned or had property seized after the Japanese Navy's sneak attack at Pearl Harbor.
Kay Sadao Kato of Los Angeles was denied participation because he was not a citizen, although he later became one and was 91 years old when he sued in 1999. Jane Natsue Yano of Santa Clara, Calif., claimed she was born in 1947 in a Texas camp but was not compensated because camps were to have been closed in 1945. The other four were brought from their homes in Peru and held as bargaining chips for hostage exchanges during the war, then deported in December 1945, the suit claimed.
The racial profiling complaint was filed by young blacks in Oneonta, N.Y., who said they were rounded up or questioned because of their race following a black burglar's attack on an elderly woman (Brown v. City of Oneonta, 00-1728).
The issue of the traditional head scarf, or hijab, for Muslim women drew active involvement of both the American Jewish Congress, concerned in part for Jews wearing yarmulke skull caps, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Zeinab Ali said she was fired as a management trainee at Alamo Rent-A-Car at Reagan Airport for wearing the scarf on the job.
Her lawsuit claiming religious discrimination was dismissed, and yesterday the court let that ruling stand (Ali v. Alamo Rent-A-Car Inc., 00-1813).
Alamo's lawyers said the firing was legal and unrelated to religious issues.Copyright © 2001 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Ex-President Clinton Resigns Bar
Friday November 9 2:57 PM ET
By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Clinton asked to resign from the Supreme Court bar Friday, rather than fight suspension or disbarment related to the Paula Jones sexual harassment investigation.
The high court suspended Clinton Oct. 1 as a follow-up to suspension of his law license in his home state of Arkansas. The high court gave Clinton until Friday to say why he should not be permanently barred from appearing before the high court as a lawyer.
Clinton lawyer David Kendall, in a letter to the court clerk, linked Clinton's request to the loss of his Arkansas law license.
On Jan. 19, a day before he left office, Clinton agreed to a 5-year suspension of the license and a $25,000 fine as part of a settlement that ended the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Independent Counsel Robert Ray agreed not to prosecute Clinton after he left office.
The agreement also satisfied the legal effort by the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct to disbar Clinton for giving misleading testimony in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.
``In order to avoid the burden of litigation for all parties, to achieve an expeditious and definitive resolution, and in acknowledgment that his actions merited censure, former President Clinton agreed to the suspension and fine,'' Kendall wrote Friday.
The high court could act on Clinton's request as soon as Tuesday.
Supreme Court disbarment typically follows disbarment in lower courts, and is considered final. In a few cases, lawyers who have successfully regained their law licenses in lower courts have successfully won reinstatement at the Supreme Court. Likewise, Clinton could reapply if he regains his law license, in Arkansas or elsewhere, and keeps it blemish-free for three years.
Membership in the Supreme Court bar is largely ceremonial, but is regarded as an honor among lawyers. Membership requires a sponsor who is already a member, and who will vouch for the candidate's qualifications.
Clinton was admitted to the Supreme Court bar in 1977, when he was Arkansas attorney general. Like most lawyers admitted to the high court bar, Clinton has never argued a case before it.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
President Clinton Removed from Supreme Court List of Lawyers
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that former President Clinton's name be removed from the roster of lawyers approved for practice at the high court.
Clinton asked to resign from the Supreme Court bar last week, rather than fight suspension or disbarment related to the Paula Jones sexual harassment investigation.
Just before he left office, Clinton agreed to a 5-year suspension of his Arkansas law license. That agreement ended the Monica Lewinsky inquiry, and headed off an Arkansas court move to punish Clinton for misleading answers in a deposition taken during the Jones matter.
Suspension or disbarment at the Supreme Court typically follows discipline in state courts.
©Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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