Opinion ID: 2291663
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: exercise of jurisdiction over robey violates federal due process standards

Text: We begin with a review of some basic principles underlying federal due process as it relates to long-arm jurisdiction. [D]ue process requires ... that in order to subject a defendant to a judgment in personam, if he be not present within the territory of the forum, he have certain minimum contacts with it 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, 316, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). As such, due process protects an individual's liberty interest in not being subject to the binding judgments of a forum with which he has established no meaningful contacts, ties, or relations. Id. at 319, 66 S.Ct. 154. By requiring that individuals have fair warning that a particular activity may subject [them] to the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign, [9] the Due Process Clause gives a degree of predictability to the legal system that allows potential defendants to structure their primary conduct with some minimum assurance as to where that conduct will and will not render them liable to suit[.] World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980); Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 471-472, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985). Where a forum seeks to assert specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant who has not consented to suit there, this fair warning requirement is satisfied if the defendant has purposefully directed his activities at residents of the forum, Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770, 774, 104 S.Ct. 1473, 79 L.Ed.2d 790, (1984), and the litigation results from alleged injuries that arise out of or relate to those activities. Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S.A. v. Hall, 466 U.S. 408, 414, 104 S.Ct. 1868, 80 L.Ed.2d 404 (1984); Burger King, 471 U.S. at 472, 105 S.Ct. 2174. Thus `[t]he forum State does not exceed its powers under the Due Process Clause if it asserts personal jurisdiction over a corporation that delivers its products into the stream of commerce with the expectation that they will be purchased by consumers in the forum State' and those products subsequently injure forum consumers. Similarly, a publisher who distributes magazines in a distant State may fairly be held accountable in that forum for damages resulting there from an allegedly defamatory story. And with respect to interstate contractual obligations, we have emphasized that parties who reach out beyond one state and create continuing relationships and obligations with citizens of another state are subject to regulation and sanctions in the other State for the consequences of their activities. Burger King, 471 U.S. at 473, 105 S.Ct. 2174 (citations omitted). Further, it is a well-settled principle that exercising personal jurisdiction does not turn on whether the defendant at any point physically entered the forum state. Although territorial presence frequently will enhance a potential defendant's affiliation with a State and reinforce the reasonable foreseeability of suit there, it is an inescapable fact of modern commercial life that a substantial amount of business is transacted solely by mail and wire communications across state lines, thus obviating the need for physical presence within a State in which business is conducted. So long as a commercial actor's efforts are `purposefully directed' toward residents of another State, we have consistently rejected the notion that an absence of physical contacts can defeat personal jurisdiction there. Id. at 476, 105 S.Ct. 2174. And finally, where the defendant `deliberately' has engaged in significant activities with a State, or has created `continuing obligations' between himself and residents of the forum, he manifestly has availed himself of the privilege of conducting business there, and because his activities are shielded by `the benefits and protections' of the forum's laws it is presumptively not unreasonable to require him to submit to the burdens of litigation in the forum as well. Id. at 475-476, 105 S.Ct. 2174. In Southern Mach. Co. v. Mohasco Industries, Inc., 401 F.2d 374 (6th Cir. 1968), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals devised a test for determining the outer limitations of in personam jurisdiction based upon a defendant's single act in relation to the forum state, such as we have here. This test is stated as follows: The first prong of the test asks whether the defendant purposefully availed himself of the privilege of acting within the forum state or causing a consequence in the forum state. The second prong considers whether the cause of action arises from the alleged instate activities [or consequence. [10] ] The final prong requires such connections to the state as to make jurisdiction reasonable. Id. at 381; see also Wilson, 85 S.W.3d at 593; Tube Turns Div. of Chemetron Corp. v. Patterson Co., Inc., 562 S.W.2d 99, 100 (Ky.App.1978). [11] Because this is a single act case, we will continue our review under the Mohasco test. Upon review of the facts, it immediately becomes apparent that the second prong of the Mohasco test is satisfied. As we noted in the preceding section of this opinion, Hinners's claim arises from the in-state consequences set in motion by Robey's contract to supply and warrant a vehicle in Kentucky. However, for the reasons explained below, we conclude that neither the first prong nor the third prong of the Mohasco test is satisfied, and thus the assertion of personal jurisdiction over Robey by Kentucky courts in this matter offends his due process rights.