Susan Webber Wright

Susan Webber Wright (born August 1, 1948) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Wright is a former judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. She received national attention when she first dismissed the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones against President Bill Clinton in 1998, and then, in 1999, found Clinton to be in civil contempt of court.

Early life, education, and career Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Wright received a Bachelor of Arts from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1970 and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1973. She received her Juris Doctor from University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975. she later challenged him on her grade. The dispute occurred after Clinton lost all the exams and offered students a B+; Wright had desired an A and, after negotiating with Clinton's then-fiancé, Hillary Rodham, Clinton agreed to give Wright an A. The ruling to keep Jones from suing Clinton, while he was still president, was overturned by the Eighth Circuit.

On April 1, 1998, Wright granted summary judgment to Clinton in a 39-page ruling that expressed exasperation with both Jones and her lawyers, and stated that she believed the case to be without legal merit. Jones's appeal to the Eighth Circuit was dismissed when Clinton settled with her out of court.

On April 12, 1999, Wright issued an order finding Bill Clinton to be in civil contempt of court.

Describing Clinton's conduct repeatedly as "contumacious", Webber wrote: "The record demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the President responded to plaintiff [Paula Jones]'s questions by giving false, misleading, and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process ... It is difficult to construe the President's sworn statements in this civil lawsuit concerning his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky as anything other than a willful refusal to obey this court's discovery orders.... Simply put, the President's deposition testimony regarding whether he had ever been alone with Ms. Lewinsky was intentionally false, and his statements regarding whether he had ever engaged in sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky likewise were intentionally false, notwithstanding tortured definitions and interpretations of the term 'sexual relations'."

Wright was also involved with Kenneth Starr's investigation of the Whitewater scandal, and issued numerous rulings, partly favorable and partly unfavorable, to Clinton.

Wright was appointed to a seven-year term on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by Chief Justice John Roberts. She was appointed on May 18, 2009, and her term expired on May 18, 2016.

Personal life In 1983, Wright married Robert R. Wright III, law professor and co-founder of The University of Arkansas at Little Rock's law school. Together, Robert and Susan had a daughter, Robin. On June 4, 2006, Robert R. Wright III, aged 74, died.