Keeton vs. Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al PDF

Preview

Summary

Conflict of laws or Private International Law that branch of international law which regulates the comity of states in giving effect in one to the municipal laws of another relating private persons, or concerns the rights of persons within the territory and dominion of one state or natio...

Description

Keeton vs. Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al, 465 U.S. 770, Decided March 20, 1984

Issue: Whether personal jurisdiction is proper in a libel action against a magazine in a state where its only contacts are magazine sales.

Rule/Relevant Law: Personal jurisdiction is proper over a nonresident magazine in any state where that corporation has sold and distributed a substantial number of copies.

Facts: Kathy Keeton (Keeton) sued Hustler Magazine, Inc. (Hustler) and several other defendants for libel in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Keeton alleged that the district court had jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship since she was a resident of New York and Hustler was an Ohio corporation with its principal place of business in California. Hustler sold 10 to 15 thousand copies of its magazine in New Hampshire each month but Keeton's only connection to New Hampshire was the circulation there of copies of a magazine that she assisted in producing. She chose to sue in New Hampshire because it was the only state in which the statute of limitation for libel six years, the longest in the United States had not run. The district court dismissed the suit on the ground that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbade the application of New Hampshire's long-arm statute in order to acquire personal jurisdiction over Hustler. The First Circuit

affirmed, finding that Keeton's contacts with New Hampshire were too attenuated for an assertion of personal jurisdiction over Hustler. The Court of Appeals also found the application of the "single publication rule," which would require the court to award Keeton damages caused in all states should she prevail, unfair since most of Keeton's alleged injuries occurred outside of New Hampshire.

Decision/Action: The court of appeals’ ruling is reversed and the case is remanded. Due process forbids the assertion of personal jurisdiction over a nonresident corporation unless the corporation has sufficient minimum contacts with the state. Hustler’s “regular circulation” of its magazines within the state of New Hampshire constitutes sufficient contacts to justify the assertion of personal jurisdiction over it for a libel claim related to statements made in the magazine. Defendants purposefully sought to do business in the state of New Hampshire and regularly sells thousands of magazines per month there. Further, New Hampshire has an interest in adjudicating harm that occurs inside its borders. This includes a case involving libel committed in the state, even if committed against a nonresident. The court of appeals’ concern with New Hampshire’s unusually long statute of limitations and the possibility of an unfair damage award was misplaced. Choice of law matters have no bearing on a forum’s right to assert personal jurisdiction over a party. In addition, a plaintiff’s contacts with a forum state have no relevance to whether personal jurisdiction exists over the defendant. It is Defendants’ contacts that are at issue, and while they might not be sufficient to justify general personal jurisdiction over unrelated claims, Defendants’ continued business justifies specific personal jurisdiction over claims related to that business. Moreover, the fact that a...