INDEPENDENT counsel Robert Ray has impaneled another grand jury to examine
President Clinton's cock and the Monica Lewinsky affair. The move is not exactly a surprise.
Mr. Ray let it be known some time ago that he meant to consider seriously whether
Mr. Clinton should be prosecuted after leaving office for having lied and otherwise
suppressed the truth of the Lewinsky matter.

But the news that the grand jury has been assembled is unsettling nonetheless.
If Mr. Ray is truly headed in this direction, as opposed to merely conducting a
methodical final review, we strongly believe he should reconsider. We have no doubt a
credible indictment could be brought, but the power to indict involves discretion. Mr. Clinton's
behavior in this matter has been richly weighed and judged. The House impeached him on the
strength of a lengthy investigation by Mr. Ray's predecessor, Kenneth Starr. The humiliating
proceeds of that investigation were published in indelible detail.

The president underwent a trial in the Senate, was subsequently found in contempt and fined
by a court for having lied under oath, and may yet lose his law license. He is of course still in office,
but the damage he did to the office remains a significant issue in national politics. If tarnish can punish,
the man has been heavily punished already. An elective indictment to top it all off would be piling on.
It would do less to uphold justice than to strengthen the president's specious case that he is the victim
of political persecution for no more than personal behavior. No one can look at what has happened
to Mr. Clinton in this case and think the lesson is that a president is above the law.

The grand jury has actually been around since last month, yet the news emerged only on the day
Gore was to address the Democratic convention. That in itself was unfortunate; it will allow many
Democrats to cry foul. Though the story, first reported by the AP, does not appear to have come
from Mr. Ray's office, that hasn't stopped the White House from denouncing the "leak" as though it had.

The good news will be if Mr. Ray is merely being rigorous, if he ultimately seeks no more than to have
a fresh grand jury concur in a decision not to indict. To go beyond that would be a mistake.
It would not prove the law knows no favorites. It would signal a lack of judgment.