Susan Webber Wright

Susan Webber Wright

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Incumbent
Assumed office August 22, 2013
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
In office January 24, 1990 – August 22, 2013
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Elsijane Trimble Roy
Succeeded by	James Maxwell Moody, Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
In office January 24, 1990 – December 1, 1990
Appointed by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Elsijane Trimble Roy
Succeeded by	seat reassigned
Personal details
Born	1948 (age 68–69) Texarkana, Arkansas, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Arkansas School of Law

Susan Webber Wright (born 1948), also known as Susan Webber Carter, 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.

Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Wright received a B.A. from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1970 and an M.P.A. from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1973. She received her J.D. from University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975. While there, she was a student of future president Bill Clinton in his course on admiralty law; 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 fiance, Hillary Rodham, Clinton agreed to give Wright an A. A conservative Republican, Wright worked for the reelection campaign of Republican Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt in 1974, who defeated Clinton by 6,000 votes in what was the future president's first run for political office.