Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Clinton Lawyers Take Case to High Court

In a last-ditch move to block further action in a pending sexual-harassment case, President Clinton’s lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court and urged the justices to rule that a chief executive need not answer to a civil suit. Attorney Robert S. Bennett asked the justices to review a 2-1 ruling by a federal appeals court in St. Louis that said Clinton as president has no immunity from suits that arise from his private acts. Bennett argued that a busy chief executive should not be “threatened with financially ruinous personal liability” while he works to carry out his official duties. He said that while he agrees Clinton is not off-limits to private damage suits, those suits should wait until the president leaves office.