William Jefferson Clinton v. Paula Corbin Jones

Paula Corbin Jones (plaintiff) sued President William Jefferson Clinton (defendant) over an alleged lewd advance he made in 1991 while he was Governor of Arkansas and she was a state employee, plus claims that her supervisors mistreated her afterward for rejecting him. She sought $75,000 in actual and $100,000 in punitive damages in federal court. The district court held the President immune and stayed the suit until his term ended; the court of appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Whether the Constitution grants a sitting President immunity from civil suit for unofficial conduct that occurred before he assumed office.