Submitted by tg347k on 09/29/2011 01:12 PM Flag This Paper
Join Now
CALDER V. JONES, 465 U. S. 783 (1984)
Case Preview
Full Text of Case
U.S. Supreme Court
Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783 (1984)
Calder v. Jones,
No. 82-1401
Argued November 8, 1983
Decided March 20, 1984
465 U.S. 783
APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA,
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
Syllabus
Respondent, a professional entertainer who lives and works in California and whose television career was centered there, brought suit in California Superior Court, claiming that she had been libeled in an article written and edited by petitioners in Florida and published in the National Enquirer, a national magazine having its largest circulation in California. Petitioners, both residents of Florida, were served with process by mail in Florida, and, on special appearances, moved to quash the service of process for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Superior Court granted the motion on the ground that First Amendment concerns weighed against an assertion of jurisdiction otherwise proper under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The California Court of Appeal reversed, holding that a valid basis for jurisdiction existed on the theory that petitioners intended to, and did, cause tortious injury to respondent in California.
Held:
1. Jurisdiction by appeal does not lie in this Court, but under 28 U.S.C. § 2103 the jurisdictional statement will be treated as a petition for certiorari, which is hereby granted. Pp. 465 U. S. 787-788.
2. Jurisdiction over petitioners in California is proper because of their intentional conduct in Florida allegedly calculated to cause injury to respondent in California. Pp. 465 U. S. 788-791.
(a) The Due Process Clause permits personal jurisdiction over a defendant in any State with which the defendant has
"certain minimum contacts . . . such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend 'traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'"
International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U. S. 310, 326 U. S. 316....