Civ Pro II – OutlineHines – Spring 2003
Personal Jurisdiction
Π Δ Accident Court Jurisdiction
KS KS KS KS Yes – KS
FL Utah KS KS Yes – KS accident
MO KS KS KS Yes – KS accident & Δ
KS MO KS MO Yes – either, MO Δ & KS accidentMO KS KS MO No – KS Δ & KS accident
Article IV § 1: Full Faith & Credit Clause
§ Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof à if there is a valid judgment in one state, other states must recognize the judgment if someone comes to that state to execute it.
Amendment XIV § 1: Due Process
§ No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.; nor shall any state deprive life, liberty or property w/o due process of law . . .
Pennoyer v. Neff (Mitchell v. Neff in OR, Neff is nonresident (CA), default for failure to appear by Neff. Mitchell seizure of land owned by Neff in OR and sold to Pennoyer, Mitchell got proceeds to fulfill judgment. Neff v. Pennoyer for land claiming no jurisdiction over him in first trial to get the seizure and sale by Mitchell à Neff wins, Oregon state courts violated due process over Neff depriving him of property).
§ Principles of Public Law in Personal Jurisdiction: Every state possesses exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty over persons and property w/I its territory and cannot exercise such jurisdiction over people outside its territory.
§ Personal Jurisdiction
o Jurisdiction in personam: over the person à service of process w/I the state or voluntary appearance by the person.
o Jurisdiction in rem: over the thing/property à attach to the property in the state first before proceeding w/ the law suit.
§ Necessity Jurisdiction: taking jurisdiction over property in the state because the suit involves the property and it is necessary for the state to have control over the lands in their own state.
o Quasi in rem jurisdiction: it is not that the court can only have jurisdiction over the property if the matter involves that property (Necessity Jurisdiction), the court will attach to the property and allow jurisdiction anyways. This idea of quasi in rem was overturned by Harris v. Balk (H owed B money, B owed E money, H traveled to E’s state and E sued H for the intangible value of what he owed B to fulfill B’s debt to E and the court allowed it).
§ Required Elements of Personal Jurisdiction: Power over person & Notice
o Notice by publication in an in rem case even if the owner is out of state is constitutionally sufficient, but not sufficient in an in personam case if person is out of state.
§ 2 Exceptions to the Requirements of Personal Jurisdiction in personam:
o Status of Citizens:marital status doesn’t require that both people be in the state for them to have jurisdiction à not alimony or child support
o Consent:someone might appoint an agent in a state to be served on behalf of that person if they are out of state. This id
O, it can still be sued in Delaware or MO for any claim completely unrelated to the level of contacts) Milliken v. Meyer
General Jurisdiction
§ Δ’s contacts w/ the forum state are sufficiently “substantial” to support jurisdiction even over claims unrelated to those contacts.
§ Continuous corporate operations w/I a state justify a suit against it on causes of action arising from dealings entirely distinct from those activities.
Specific Jurisdiction
§ Where the Δ’s activities fall short of general jurisdiction, but there is still some sort of minimum contacts that are closely related to the facts giving rise to the claim, jurisdiction may exist for the specific claim in question but not necessarily for other claims.
In Rem Jurisdiction:
Shaffer v. Heitner (Heitner gets DA in rem jurisdiction in a derivative action based upon a cause arising from OR over 28 officers of Greyhound, a DA corp. operating from AZ. DA statute makes all stock of a company incorporated in the state located in the state. 28 officers contend no sufficient contacts among the Δs, litigation and DA. Jurisdiction Reversed by SCOTUS.)
§ Shaffer overrules Pennoyer.
§ Redefining in rem jurisdiction:
In rem jurisdiction is the judicial jurisdiction over a thing referring to jurisdiction over the interests of persons in a thing, not just jurisdiction over property because it is relevant to the jurisdiction of the people.
