Democrats and Republicans alike are celebrating over the 11th-hour deal struck between Independent Counsel Robert Ray and our 42nd president, a deal that allowed Bill Clinton to beat his perjury and obstruction of justice raps growing out of the investigation of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

President George W. Bush has expressed satisfaction and outright relief over the compromise that allows his administration to get a fresh start, without having to make a decision on a pardon for his predecessor.

The night before Mr. Bush was sworn into office, television pundits were telling us that Mr. Clinton would be able to get a good night's sleep, knowing that there would be no effort to hold him accountable for alleged crimes he may have committed while in office.

My guess is that he and the former first lady, now the junior senator from New York, are not sleeping as well as we have been led to believe, because the Clintons are not out of the legal woods.

Thanks to the O.J. Simpson trials, we have learned the value of the civil suit and the public interest law firm Judicial Watch has filed enough civil suits against the Clintons to keep an army of attorneys busy for the next few years, civil suits that have far-reaching implications for the former first couple.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton reports that his organization has filed at least four suits against Mr. Clinton by name and many others against the Office of President Bill Clinton. In addition, Mrs. Clinton is a defendant in at least four other Judicial Watch lawsuits, and there are countless others involving alleged wrongdoing by members of the Clinton Administration where one or both Clintons may be implicated.

It was Judicial Watch that made John Huang, Charlie Trie and Johnny Chung household names in America and forced the Chinagate scandal out into the open. The Reno Justice Department took only a passing glance at all the illegal foreign aid that was funneled into the Clinton-Gore campaigns and into the campaigns of some members of Congress.

The deal between Mr. Ray and Mr. Clinton had absolutely nothing to do with his involvement with China or campaign finance. These are scandals rich in evidence just begging to be mined. The Bush Justice Department could begin digging at any time. Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris recently speculated that this is why Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been so quiet on the Ashcroft confirmation. Others have speculated that she simply is deferring to New York's senior senator Chuck Schumer, but not the man who often served as Mr. Clinton's confessor and sounding board.

Morris said, "Hillary is frightened of Ashcroft and doesn't want to antagonize him. If she could kill his candidacy she would do it in a New York minute, but she can't. ... If she can't kill him, it's better not to wound him."

Morris maintains that Ashcroft will be under pressure from his base to reopen this investigation. In his column for the New York Post, Morris said, "If the new attorney general sweeps the scandal under the rug and doesn't pursue it, he will betray his most ardent supporters."

Not everyone agrees that pressure from the right will lead to an investigation. Douglas W. Kmiec, former deputy and assistant attorney general in the administration of Ronald Reagan, now a professor at Pepperdine Law School in California, believes that there are powerful forces in both political parties who will work overtime, if necessary, to keep this from happening.

Kmiec acknowledged that the civil suits filed by Judicial Watch could be a wild card. "If evidence of criminal wrongdoing is uncovered during the process of discovery, he could be forced to take a look at it. If the evidence is compelling, we could have another independent counsel assigned to the matter, not under the expired statute but as a special assistant to the attorney general, as was the case with Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski, who were assigned to investigate Watergate."

However, Kmiec believes that it would take a lot for that to happen. "First and foremost you would have to have a lot of different people with the courage to do the right thing. People like (Little Rock U.S. District Judge) Susan Webber Wright on the bench, Henry Hyde (former chair of the House Judiciary Committee) in Congress and Charles LaBella (the man former Attorney General Janet Reno picked to look into the campaign-finance matter) in the Justice Department.

"You would have to have a U.S. attorney in charge of the investigation who is so independent that he doesn't care if he is fired (as LaBella was)."

Even if the evidence uncovered by Larry Klayman, the chairman and general legal counsel for Judicial Watch, is enough for a conviction in one or more of his civil suits, Kmiec believes a criminal indictment of the former president is unlikely. "For a conviction in a civil suit, the evidence must be 'clear and convincing,' but in a criminal case it must be 'beyond a reasonable doubt.'"

When asked if the Justice Department would need a "smoking gun" or another blue dress with DNA evidence, Kmiec said, "You would need a credible witness or a paper trail. Without that kind of evidence, the Justice Department is unlikely to trigger another investigation."

Many are concerned that if there are no criminal indictments in matters such as those illegal FBI files obtained by the White House, which could have been used for extortion, or the campaign finance scandal, which could have involved the selling of our country's secrets, it will be an open invitation to future presidents to ignore the law. Kmiec is more optimistic.

"It is rare that someone comes along with the persuasive power of Bill Clinton, someone with the ability to make us believe that white is black, and black is white. I can think of no other president who would have been able to do some of the things that Clinton did and manage to finish his term of office."

The Constitution is still in place, but as Kmiec continually reminds his law students, it is only as good as "we, the people." Kmiec brings a copy of Judge Wright's historic contempt citation against President Clinton with him to the classroom. In her order, Judge Wright stated that there was "clear and convincing evidence" that during Mr. Clinton's deposition for the Paula Jones suit, he gave "false, misleading and evasive answers that were designed to obstruct the judicial process."

Judge Wright, a former student of Mr. Clinton's, added, "The court takes no pleasure in imposing contempt sanctions against the nation's president and, no doubt like many others, grows weary of this matter." However, her bottom line was this: "(T)he president deliberately violated this court's discovery orders, thereby undermining the integrity of the judicial system."

Kmiec thinks it unfortunate that Judge Wright withheld this ruling until after Mr. Clinton's impeachment trial. "Had it been issued earlier, it would have been impossible for the Legislative Branch to ignore and the outcome might have been different."

Kmiec believes that it is the responsibility of each of us to see that the history of this presidency is written correctly. For Kmiec, that means he must teach it correctly. Reporters have the responsibility to report it correctly. Larry Klayman, through his position at Judicial Watch, has the responsibility of pursuing evidence in the courtroom, and, as informed citizens, we not only have the opportunity but the responsibility to support this costly effort.

The price is steep, but then liberty never was won, nor does it endure, on the cheap.