Appeals Court Orders Judge to Reconsider Gag Order in Jones' Case
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AllPolitics, April 16) -- A federal appeals court has ordered Judge Susan Webber Wright to consider lifting a gag order in Paula Jones' recently dismissed sexual harassment lawsuit.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. District Court of Appeals issued an order Wednesday for Wright to reconsider whether the secrecy order is still necessary. The ban kept secret many documents in the case and prevented the parties involved from speaking publicly about the case. Wright dismissed the suit on April 1.
A group of media organizations made the request to lift the gag order before Wright dismissed the case. In rejecting the request in March, Wright said journalists damaged the parties right to a free trial by using gossip, unnamed and questionable sources, and innuendo in their reporting.
Media who joined in the request to lift the gag order include CNN; The Associated Press; Pulitzer Publishing Co.; The New York Times; USA Today; Newsday; NBC; CBS; ABC; Time; The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
In her dismissal of Jones' case, Wright ruled that Jones failed to prove that she had been harassed by Clinton or that she suffered in her job for rejecting his advances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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