Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc.
Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770 (1984), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that a state could assert personal jurisdiction over the publisher of a national magazine which published an allegedly defamatory article about a resident of another state, and where the magazine had wide circulation in that state. Facts. "Keeton" was a case for defamation brought by Kathy Keeton, a New York resident and publisher of "Penthouse" magazine, against the nationally distributed "Hustler" magazine. The plaintiff chose to bring the case in New Hampshire, even though the  plaintiff was not a resident there, because New Hampshire allowed six years to bring suit under that state's statute of limitations, which is longer than any other state. Also, New Hampshire's "Single Publication Rule" could increase the amount of damages the plaintiff could collect by accounting for publication in all 50 states. Issue. The issue was whether the federal court had personal jurisdiction if the case was brought in New Hampshire, by a plaintiff from a foreign state against a nationally circulated magazine. Opinion of the Court. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld personal jurisdiction, stating that the plaintiff  in a case had never been required to have "minimum contacts" in a state to bring suit in that state and since the magazine did conduct business within the state of New Hampshire. Other developments. Keeton was later awarded a $2 million judgment by a New Hampshire jury. This case was decided at the same time as "Calder v. Jones", which held that a state had personal jurisdiction over author or editor of an article published in a magazine widely circulated in the state the case was brought, if the claim brought was that the article was libelous about  activities in the state by a resident of state. Like "Keeton", Rehnquist authored a unanimous decision there. However, key differences between the cases were that "Calder" involved a plaintiff suing in her state of residence and she was suing the author and editor involved in the piece in addition to the newspaper itself, while "Keeton" involved a plaintiff suing only the magazine itself.