What is Personal Jurisdiction?
Why is Personal Jurisdiction Required?
That is, the court must have the legal authority to adjudicate the matter involving the specific individual.
Determining whether a court has personal jurisdiction over an individual is different for criminal and civil cases.
Personal Jurisdiction over Criminal Cases?
In a criminal case, a court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant if the defendant committed the alleged criminal conduct within the court’s geographic jurisdiction.
A federal court will have personal jurisdiction over a defendant committing any criminal activity within the United States, though the specific district in which to prosecute the case is specified by Rule 18 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
A state court will have personal jurisdiction over a defendant committing any criminal activity within that state’s borders.
There is a basis for a state court to exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant who committed a criminal act outside of the state if there is a detrimental impact on the state.
- Relevant Law: Strassheim v Daily, 221 US 280, 285; (1911), Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes wrote, that a state properly may punish a defendant for acts committed outside the state if those acts were intended to, and actually did, produce detrimental effects within the state.
Personal Jurisdiction in Civil Cases?
Establishing personal jurisdiction in civil cases requires that the court serve the defendant with a summons (or otherwise provide sufficient legal notice of the proceeding), also known as service of process.
A summons, along with the complaint, gives a defendant legal notice of the allegations against her and directs her to appear before the court on a given date.
The legal requirements for serving a summons on someone differ between state and federal courts and are discussed below.
- Relevant Law: International Shoe v Washington, 326 US 310 (1945), requiring minimum contacts with a state, sufficient not to offend notions of fair play and substantial justice.
In a criminal case, personal jurisdiction is generally not an issue.
An individual would assert a defense to the alleged crime rather than assert a lack of personal jurisdiction.
In a civil case, however, personal jurisdiction is a hotly debated topic.
This is particularly true for businesses that place products into the market for sale.
There is a great deal of uncertainty as to what amount of sales activity in a state will subject the business to personal jurisdiction in that state’s courts.
