Calder V. Jones Case Summary and Ethics Analysis

Calder v. Jones Case Summary and Ethics Analysis

Factual Background

The case Calder v. Jones was when Shirley Jones sued the National Enquirer, the distributor of the magazine, the writer of the article, and Calder, the editor-in-chief, over an article that was published in the National Enquirer that alleged that Jones was an alcoholic. Jones lived in California and filed the law suit there even though the magazine National Enquirer is written and edited in Florida. California state courts had jurisdiction based on there begin a large circulation of the magazine.

The claim against the author and editor of the article was dismissed due to the First Amendment, stating that permitting this jurisdiction would chill free speech. This has reversed by the California Court of Appeal and then it was upheld by the California Supreme Court.

Issue

The issue that was presented to the U.S. Supreme Court was whether the sale of this article provided sufficient minimum contacts pursuit to the Due Process of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the U.S. Supreme Court hearing was whether the sale of a magazine article provided enough minimum contacts to permit personal jurisdiction over the editor of the article. The court opinion written by Justice Rehnquist held that the California courts did have jurisdiction. This was due to Jones living and working in California and the editor and writer knew that this article could be devastating to Jones.

Rule

The Due Process Clause was used doing the trail because California was the state where Jones has certain minimum contacts. The law of California long-arm statue permitted this case to done in California over Florida.

Holding and Analysis

The holding in the case Calder v. Jones that the Supreme Court upheld the finding of the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court upheld that the harm was committed in California and they rejected the suggestion that the First Amendment be considered into the jurisdictional analysis. The courts...