Yeazell,
p. 94-168: The Modern Constitutional Formulation of Power
Stevie
Y. will now bring us up to date on the changes in the Pennoyer formulation of personal jurisdiction
that have come about over the years.
1. Redefining
Constitutional Power
Pennoyer gets confusing if you try
to apply it to corporations.
Corporations don’t have physical reality, so they can’t be “present”
to receive process in a fundamental sense.
They also can’t (in the conventional sense) “consent” to a
court’s power. We’ll look at a case that
tries to figure all this stuff out.
Case: International Shoe Co. v. Washington
2. Absorbing In
Rem Jurisdiction
There
were two issues that were not discussed in Shoe:
1. How does the
ruling apply to jurisdiction over individual people?
2. What impact
does the ruling have on the Pennoyer concept of in rem
jurisdiction (and quasi in rem jurisdiction)?
Case:
Shaffer v. Heitner
3. Specific
Jurisdiction: The Modern Cases
Here
is some practice in applying specific jurisdiction and general
jurisdiction. We should ask ourselves if
modern changes in communications and transportation render the doctrine of Shoe
obsolete.
Case: McGee v. International Life
Insurance Co.
Case:
Hanson v. Denckla
Case:
World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v.
Woodson
Case:
Asahi Metal Industry Co. v.
Superior Court
Case:
Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz
Case:
Pavlovich v. Superior Court [Supplement: Yeazell, FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL
PROCEDURE at 381 (2003).]
4. General
Jurisdiction
We
think that for every corporate or individual defendant there exists at least
one forum that has general jurisdiction over that defendant. For a corporation, this may be the state of
incorporation or the state where they have their headquarters. For an individual, the state of general
jurisdiction is wherever that person is domiciled.
It
is suggested that there actually could be some cases where a forum other than
those mentioned above could have general jurisdiction, but it’s really hard to find
any cases that bear this out.
Case: Washington
Equipment Manufacturing Co. v. Concrete Placing Co.
Case:
Burnham v. Superior Court