Sentenza

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD. v. NICASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF NICASTRO CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD. v. NICASTRO,
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS ADMINISTRATOR OF
THE ESTATE OF NICASTRO
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY
No. 09–1343. Argued January 11, 2011—Decided June 27, 2011
Respondent Nicastro injured his hand while using a metal-shearingmachine that petitioner J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. (J. McIntyre), manufactured in England, where the company is incorporated and operates. Nicastro filed this products-liability suit in a state court in New Jersey, where the accident occurred, but J. McIntyre sought todismiss the suit for want of personal jurisdiction. Nicastro's jurisdic-tional claim was based on three primary facts: A U. S. distributoragreed to sell J. McIntyre's machines in this country; J. McIntyre of-ficials attended trade shows in several States, albeit not in New Jer-sey; and no more than four J. McIntyre machines (the record suggestsonly one), including the one at issue, ended up in New Jersey. The State Supreme Court held that New Jersey's courts can exercise ju-risdiction over a foreign manufacturer without contravening the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause so long as the manu-facturer knew or reasonably should have known that its products aredistributed through a nationwide distribution system that might leadto sales in any of the States. Invoking this “stream-of-commerce” doctrine of jurisdiction, the court relied in part on Asahi Metal Indus-try Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Solano Cty., 480 U. S. 102. Apply-ing its test, the court concluded that J. McIntyre was subject to juris-diction in New Jersey, even though at no time had it advertised in, sent goods to, or in any relevant sense targeted the State.
Held: The judgment is reversed.
201 N. J. 48, 987 A. 2d 575, reversed. JUSTICE KENNEDY, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE SCALIA, and JUSTICE THOMAS, concluded that because J. McIntyre never en-
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gaged in any activities in New Jersey that revealed an intent to in-voke or benefit from the protection of the State's laws, New Jersey is without power to adjudge the company's rights and liabilities, and itsexercise of jurisdiction would violate due process. Pp. 4–12.
(a) Due process protects the defendant's right not to be coerced ex-cept by lawful judicial power. A court may subject a defendant tojudgment only when the defendant has sufficient contacts with thesovereign “such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend ‘tra-ditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.' ” International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U. S. 310, 316. Freeform fundamental fairness notions divorced from traditional practice cannot transform ajudgment rendered without authority into law. As a general rule, the sovereign's exercise of power requires some act by which the defen-dant “purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activi-ties within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protec-tions of its laws.” Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U. S. 235, 253. In cases like this one, it is the defendant's purposeful availment that makes jurisdiction consistent with “fair play and substantial justice” no-tions. No “stream-of-commerce” doctrine can displace that general rule for products-liability cases.
The rules and standards for determining state jurisdiction over anabsent party have been unclear because of decades-old questions leftopen in Asahi. The imprecision arising from Asahi, for the most part,results from its statement of the relation between jurisdiction andthe “stream of commerce.” That concept, like other metaphors, has its deficiencies as well as its utilities. It refers to the movement of goods from manufacturers through distributors to consumers, yet be-yond that descriptive purpose its meaning is far from exact. A defen-dant's placement of goods into commerce “with the expectation thatthey will be purchased by consumers within the forum State” mayindicate purposeful availment. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U. S. 286, 298. But that does not amend the general rule of personal jurisdiction. The principal inquiry in cases of thissort is whether the defendant's activities manifest an intention to submit to the power of a sovereign. See, e.g., Hanson, supra, at 253. In Asahi, Justice Brennan's concurrence (joined by three other Jus-tices) discarded the central concept of sovereign authority in favor offairness and foreseeability considerations on the theory that the de-fendant's ability to anticipate suit is the touchstone of jurisdiction.480 U. S., at 117. However, Justice O'Connor's lead opinion (also forfour Justices) stated that “[t]he ‘substantial connection' between the defendant and the forum State necessary for a finding of minimum contacts must come about by an action of the defendant purposefullydirected toward the forum State.” Id., at 112. Since Asahi, the courts
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have sought to reconcile the competing opinions. But Justice Bren-nan's rule based on general notions of fairness and foreseeability isinconsistent with the premises of lawful judicial power under thisCourt's precedents. Today's conclusion that the authority to subject adefendant to judgment depends on purposeful availment is consistentwith Justice O'Connor's Asahi opinion. Pp. 4–10.
(b)
Nicastro has not established that J. McIntyre engaged in con-duct purposefully directed at New Jersey. The company had no office in New Jersey; it neither paid taxes nor owned property there; and it neither advertised in, nor sent any employees to, the State. Indeed, the trial court found that petitioner did not have a single contact with the State apart from the fact that the machine in question ended upthere. Neither these facts, nor the three on which Nicastro centered his jurisdictional claim, show that J. McIntyre purposefully availeditself of the New Jersey market. Pp. 10–12.
JUSTICE BREYER, joined by JUSTICE ALITO, agreed that the New Jer-sey Supreme Court's judgment must be reversed, but concluded that because this case does not present issues arising from recent changesin commerce and communication, it is unwise to announce a rule of broad applicability without fully considering modern-day conse-quences. Rather, the outcome of the case is determined by the Court's precedents. Pp. 2–7.
(a)
Based on the record, respondent Nicastro failed to meet his burden to demonstrate that it was constitutionally proper to exercise jurisdiction over petitioner J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. (British Manufacturer). The three primary facts the state high court relied on do not satisfy due process. None of the Court's precedents finds that a single isolated sale, even if accompanied by the kind of saleseffort indicated here, is sufficient. See World-Wide Volkswagen Corp.
v.
Woodson, 444 U. S. 286; Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Solano Cty., 480 U. S. 102. Here, the relevant facts show no “regular . . . flow” or “regular course” of sales in New Jersey, id., at 117 (Brennan, J., concurring in part and concurring in judg-ment); id., at 122 (Stevens, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); and there is no “something more,” such as special state-related design, advertising, advice, or marketing, id., at 111, 112 (opinion of O'Connor, J.), that would warrant the assertion of juris-diction. Nicastro has shown no specific effort by the British Manu-facturer to sell in New Jersey. And he has not otherwise shown that the British Manufacturer “ ‘purposefully avail[ed] itself of the privi-lege of conducting activities' ” within New Jersey, or that it delivered its goods in the stream of commerce “with the expectation that they will be purchased” by New Jersey users. World-Wide Volkswagen, supra, at 297–298. Pp. 2–4.
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(b)
JUSTICE BREYER would not go further. Because the incident at issue does not implicate modern concerns, and because the factual re-cord leaves many open questions, this is an unsuitable vehicle formaking broad pronouncements that refashion basic jurisdictionalrules. At a minimum, he would not work such a change to the law inthe way either the plurality or the New Jersey Supreme Court sug-gests without a better understanding of the relevant contemporary commercial circumstances. Insofar as such considerations are rele-vant to any change in present law, they might be presented in a case(unlike the present one) in which the Solicitor General participates.Pp. 4–7.
KENNEDY, J., announced the judgment of the Court and delivered anopinion, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA and THOMAS, JJ., joined. BREYER, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which ALITO, J., joined. GINSBURG, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SOTOMAYOR and KAGAN, JJ., joined.
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Opinion of KENNEDY, J.
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in thepreliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested tonotify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in orderthat corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 09–1343
J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD., PETITIONER v.
ROBERT NICASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF
ROSEANNE NICASTRO
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW
JERSEY
[June 27, 2011]
JUSTICE KENNEDY announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE SCALIA, and JUSTICE THOMAS join.
Whether a person or entity is subject to the jurisdictionof a state court despite not having been present in theState either at the time of suit or at the time of the alleged injury, and despite not having consented to the exercise ofjurisdiction, is a question that arises with great frequencyin the routine course of litigation. The rules and stan-dards for determining when a State does or does not have jurisdiction over an absent party have been unclear be-cause of decades-old questions left open in Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Solano Cty., 480
U. S. 102 (1987).
Here, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, relying in part on Asahi, held that New Jersey's courts can exercise juris-diction over a foreign manufacturer of a product so long as the manufacturer “knows or reasonably should know thatits products are distributed through a nationwide distribu-
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tion system that might lead to those products being sold inany of the fifty states.” Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery America, Ltd., 201 N. J. 48, 76, 77, 987 A. 2d 575, 591, 592 (2010). Applying that test, the court concluded that aBritish manufacturer of scrap metal machines was subject to jurisdiction in New Jersey, even though at no time had it advertised in, sent goods to, or in any relevant sense targeted the State.
That decision cannot be sustained. Although the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an extensive opinion with care-ful attention to this Court's cases and to its own pre-cedent, the “stream of commerce” metaphor carried the decision far afield. Due process protects the defendant's right not to be coerced except by lawful judicial power. As a general rule, the exercise of judicial power is not lawfulunless the defendant “purposefully avails itself of theprivilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U. S. 235, 253 (1958). There maybe exceptions, say, for instance, in cases involving anintentional tort. But the general rule is applicable in this products-liability case, and the so-called “stream-of-commerce” doctrine cannot displace it.
I This case arises from a products-liability suit filed in New Jersey state court. Robert Nicastro seriously injuredhis hand while using a metal-shearing machine manufac-tured by J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. (J. McIntyre). The accident occurred in New Jersey, but the machine was manufactured in England, where J. McIntyre is incorpo-rated and operates. The question here is whether the New Jersey courts have jurisdiction over J. McIntyre, notwith-standing the fact that the company at no time either marketed goods in the State or shipped them there. Ni-castro was a plaintiff in the New Jersey trial court and is
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the respondent here; J. McIntyre was a defendant and isnow the petitioner.
At oral argument in this Court, Nicastro's counselstressed three primary facts in defense of New Jersey's as-sertion of jurisdiction over J. McIntyre. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 29–30.
First, an independent company agreed to sell J. McIn-tyre's machines in the United States. J. McIntyre itself did not sell its machines to buyers in this country beyondthe U. S. distributor, and there is no allegation that the distributor was under J. McIntyre's control.
Second, J. McIntyre officials attended annual conven-tions for the scrap recycling industry to advertise J. Mc-Intyre's machines alongside the distributor. The conven-tions took place in various States, but never in New Jersey.
Third, no more than four machines (the record suggestsonly one, see App. to Pet. for Cert. 130a), including the machine that caused the injuries that are the basis for thissuit, ended up in New Jersey.
In addition to these facts emphasized by respondent, the New Jersey Supreme Court noted that J. McIntyre held both United States and European patents on its recycling technology. 201 N. J., at 55, 987 A. 2d, at 579. It also noted that the U. S. distributor “structured [its] adver-tising and sales efforts in accordance with” J. McIntyre's“direction and guidance whenever possible,” and that “at least some of the machines were sold on consignment to” the distributor. Id., at 55, 56, 987 A. 2d, at 579 (internal quotation marks omitted).
In light of these facts, the New Jersey Supreme Courtconcluded that New Jersey courts could exercise jurisdic-tion over petitioner without contravention of the DueProcess Clause. Jurisdiction was proper, in that court's view, because the injury occurred in New Jersey; because petitioner knew or reasonably should have known “that its
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products are distributed through a nationwide distributionsystem that might lead to those products being sold in anyof the fifty states”; and because petitioner failed to “takesome reasonable step to prevent the distribution of its prod-ucts in this State.” Id., at 77, 987 A. 2d, at 592.
Both the New Jersey Supreme Court's holding and itsaccount of what it called “[t]he stream-of-commerce doc-trine of jurisdiction,” id., at 80, 987 A. 2d, at 594, were incorrect, however. This Court's Asahi decision may beresponsible in part for that court's error regarding the stream of commerce, and this case presents an opportunityto provide greater clarity.
II The Due Process Clause protects an individual's right to be deprived of life, liberty, or property only by the exercise of lawful power. Cf. Giaccio v. Pennsylvania, 382 U. S. 399, 403 (1966) (The Clause “protect[s] a person against having the Government impose burdens upon him except in accordance with the valid laws of the land”). This is no less true with respect to the power of a sovereign to re-solve disputes through judicial process than with respect to the power of a sovereign to prescribe rules of conduct forthose within its sphere. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for Bet-ter Environment, 523 U. S. 83, 94 (1998) (“Jurisdiction is power to declare the law”). As a general rule, neitherstatute nor judicial decree may bind strangers to the State. Cf. Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin, 495 U. S. 604, 608–609 (1990) (opinion of SCALIA, J.) (invoking “the phrase coram non judice, ‘before a per-son not a judge'—meaning, in effect, that the proceeding in question was not a judicial proceeding because lawfuljudicial authority was not present, and could therefore not yield a judgment”)A court may subject a defendant to judgment only whenthe defendant has sufficient contacts with the sovereign
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“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 (1945) (quoting Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U. S. 457, 463 (1940)). Freeform notions of fundamental fairness di-vorced from traditional practice cannot transform a judg-ment rendered in the absence of authority into law. As a general rule, the sovereign's exercise of power requires some act by which the defendant “purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forumState, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws,” Hanson, 357 U. S., at 253, though in some cases, aswith an intentional tort, the defendant might well fall within the State's authority by reason of his attempt to obstruct its laws. In products-liability cases like this one,it is the defendant's purposeful availment that makesjurisdiction consistent with “traditional notions of fair playand substantial justice.”
A person may submit to a State's authority in a numberof ways. There is, of course, explicit consent. E.g., In-surance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U. S. 694, 703 (1982). Presence within a State at the time suit commences through service of process isanother example. See Burnham, supra. Citizenship ordomicile—or, by analogy, incorporation or principal placeof business for corporations—also indicates general sub-mission to a State's powers. Goodyear Dunlop Tires Op-erations, S. A. v. Brown, post, p. __. Each of these exam-ples reveals circumstances, or a course of conduct, fromwhich it is proper to infer an intention to benefit from and thus an intention to submit to the laws of the forum State. Cf. Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U. S. 462, 476 (1985). These examples support exercise of the generaljurisdiction of the State's courts and allow the State toresolve both matters that originate within the State and those based on activities and events elsewhere. Helicop-
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teros Nacionales de Colombia, S. A. v. Hall, 466 U. S. 408, 414, and n. 9 (1984). By contrast, those who live or oper-ate primarily outside a State have a due process right not to be subjected to judgment in its courts as a general matter.
There is also a more limited form of submission to a State's authority for disputes that “arise out of or are con-nected with the activities within the state.” International Shoe Co., supra, at 319. Where a defendant “purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws,” Hanson, supra, at 253, it submits to the judicial power of an otherwise foreign sovereign to the extent that power is exercised in connection with the defendant's activities touching on the State. In other words, submission through contact with and activitydirected at a sovereign may justify specific jurisdiction “in a suit arising out of or related to the defendant's contactswith the forum.” Helicopteros, supra, at 414, n. 8; see also Goodyear, post, at 2.
The imprecision arising from Asahi, for the most part,results from its statement of the relation between jurisdic-tion and the “stream of commerce.” The stream of com-merce, like other metaphors, has its deficiencies as well asits utility. It refers to the movement of goods from manu-facturers through distributors to consumers, yet beyondthat descriptive purpose its meaning is far from exact. This Court has stated that a defendant's placing goodsinto the stream of commerce “with the expectation thatthey will be purchased by consumers within the forumState” may indicate purposeful availment. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U. S. 286, 298 (1980) (finding that expectation lacking). But that statement does not amend the general rule of personal jurisdiction.It merely observes that a defendant may in an appropriatecase be subject to jurisdiction without entering the
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forum—itself an unexceptional proposition—as where man-ufacturers or distributors “seek to serve” a given State'smarket. Id., at 295. The principal inquiry in cases of this sort is whether the defendant's activities manifest an intention to submit to the power of a sovereign. In other words, the defendant must “purposefully avai[l] it-self of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State, thus invoking the benefits and protections of its laws.” Hanson, supra, at 253; Insurance Corp., supra, at 704–705 (“[A]ctions of the defendant may amount to alegal submission to the jurisdiction of the court”). Some-times a defendant does so by sending its goods rather than its agents. The defendant's transmission of goods permits the exercise of jurisdiction only where the defendant canbe said to have targeted the forum; as a general rule, it is not enough that the defendant might have predicted that its goods will reach the forum State.
In Asahi, an opinion by Justice Brennan for four Jus-tices outlined a different approach. It discarded the cen-tral concept of sovereign authority in favor of considera-tions of fairness and foreseeability. As that concurrence contended, “jurisdiction premised on the placement of a product into the stream of commerce [without more] isconsistent with the Due Process Clause,” for “[a]s long as a participant in this process is aware that the final product is being marketed in the forum State, the possibility of a lawsuit there cannot come as a surprise.” 480 U. S., at 117 (opinion concurring in part and concurring in judg-ment). It was the premise of the concurring opinion that the defendant's ability to anticipate suit renders the asser-tion of jurisdiction fair. In this way, the opinion made foreseeability the touchstone of jurisdiction.
The standard set forth in Justice Brennan's concurrence was rejected in an opinion written by Justice O'Connor;but the relevant part of that opinion, too, commanded theassent of only four Justices, not a majority of the Court.
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That opinion stated: “The ‘substantial connection' betweenthe defendant and the forum State necessary for a finding of minimum contacts must come about by an action of the defendant purposefully directed toward the forum State. The placement of a product into the stream of commerce, without more, is not an act of the defendant purposefullydirected toward the forum State.” Id., at 112 (emphasis deleted; citations omitted).
Since Asahi was decided, the courts have sought to rec-oncile the competing opinions. But Justice Brennan's con-currence, advocating a rule based on general notions of fairness and foreseeability, is inconsistent with the prem-ises of lawful judicial power. This Court's precedentsmake clear that it is the defendant's actions, not his expec-tations, that empower a State's courts to subject him to judgment.
The conclusion that jurisdiction is in the first instancea question of authority rather than fairness explains, for example, why the principal opinion in Burnham “con-ducted no independent inquiry into the desirability or fairness” of the rule that service of process within a Statesuffices to establish jurisdiction over an otherwise foreigndefendant. 495 U. S., at 621. As that opinion explained,“[t]he view developed early that each State had the powerto hale before its courts any individual who could be found within its borders.” Id., at 610. Furthermore, were gen-eral fairness considerations the touchstone of jurisdiction, a lack of purposeful availment might be excused wherecarefully crafted judicial procedures could otherwise pro-tect the defendant's interests, or where the plaintiff wouldsuffer substantial hardship if forced to litigate in a foreignforum. That such considerations have not been deemed controlling is instructive. See, e.g., World-Wide Volks-wagen, supra, at 294.
Two principles are implicit in the foregoing. First, per-sonal jurisdiction requires a forum-by-forum, or sovereign-
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by-sovereign, analysis. The question is whether a de-fendant has followed a course of conduct directed at the society or economy existing within the jurisdiction of a given sovereign, so that the sovereign has the power tosubject the defendant to judgment concerning that con-duct. Personal jurisdiction, of course, restricts “judicialpower not as a matter of sovereignty, but as a matter ofindividual liberty,” for due process protects the individ-ual's right to be subject only to lawful power. Insurance Corp., 456 U. S., at 702. But whether a judicial judgmentis lawful depends on whether the sovereign has authorityto render it.
The second principle is a corollary of the first. Because the United States is a distinct sovereign, a defendant mayin principle be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States but not of any particular State. This is consistent with the premises and unique genius of our Constitution. Ours is “a legal system unprecedented inform and design, establishing two orders of government, each with its own direct relationship, its own privity, itsown set of mutual rights and obligations to the people whosustain it and are governed by it.” U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779, 838 (1995) (KENNEDY, J., concurring). For jurisdiction, a litigant may have therequisite relationship with the United States Governmentbut not with the government of any individual State. That would be an exceptional case, however. If the defendant is a domestic domiciliary, the courts of its home State areavailable and can exercise general jurisdiction. And if another State were to assert jurisdiction in an inappropri-ate case, it would upset the federal balance, which posits that each State has a sovereignty that is not subject tounlawful intrusion by other States. Furthermore, foreigncorporations will often target or concentrate on particular States, subjecting them to specific jurisdiction in those forums.
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It must be remembered, however, that although thiscase and Asahi both involve foreign manufacturers, the undesirable consequences of Justice Brennan's approachare no less significant for domestic producers. The owner of a small Florida farm might sell crops to a large nearby distributor, for example, who might then distribute themto grocers across the country. If foreseeability were the controlling criterion, the farmer could be sued in Alaska orany number of other States' courts without ever leaving town. And the issue of foreseeability may itself be con-tested so that significant expenses are incurred just on the preliminary issue of jurisdiction. Jurisdictional rules should avoid these costs whenever possible.
The conclusion that the authority to subject a defendantto judgment depends on purposeful availment, consistent with Justice O'Connor's opinion in Asahi, does not by itself resolve many difficult questions of jurisdiction that willarise in particular cases. The defendant's conduct and the economic realities of the market the defendant seeks to serve will differ across cases, and judicial exposition will, in common-law fashion, clarify the contours of that principle.
III In this case, petitioner directed marketing and sales efforts at the United States. It may be that, assuming it were otherwise empowered to legislate on the subject, theCongress could authorize the exercise of jurisdiction in appropriate courts. That circumstance is not presented inthis case, however, and it is neither necessary nor appro-priate to address here any constitutional concerns thatmight be attendant to that exercise of power. See Asahi, 480 U. S., at 113, n. Nor is it necessary to determine what substantive law might apply were Congress to authorizejurisdiction in a federal court in New Jersey. See Hanson, 357 U. S., at 254 (“The issue is personal jurisdiction, not
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choice of law”). A sovereign's legislative authority toregulate conduct may present considerations differentfrom those presented by its authority to subject a defen-dant to judgment in its courts. Here the question concernsthe authority of a New Jersey state court to exercise ju-risdiction, so it is petitioner's purposeful contacts with New Jersey, not with the United States, that alone arerelevant.
Respondent has not established that J. McIntyre en-gaged in conduct purposefully directed at New Jersey.Recall that respondent's claim of jurisdiction centers onthree facts: The distributor agreed to sell J. McIntyre'smachines in the United States; J. McIntyre officials at-tended trade shows in several States but not in New Jer-sey; and up to four machines ended up in New Jersey. The British manufacturer had no office in New Jersey; it nei-ther paid taxes nor owned property there; and it neither advertised in, nor sent any employees to, the State. In-deed, after discovery the trial court found that the “defen-dant does not have a single contact with New Jersey short of the machine in question ending up in this state.” App.to Pet. for Cert. 130a. These facts may reveal an intent to serve the U. S. market, but they do not show that J. McIn-tyre purposefully availed itself of the New Jersey market.
It is notable that the New Jersey Supreme Court ap-pears to agree, for it could “not find that J. McIntyre had apresence or minimum contacts in this State—in any juris-prudential sense—that would justify a New Jersey court to exercise jurisdiction in this case.” 201 N. J., at 61, 987
A. 2d, at 582. The court nonetheless held that petitionercould be sued in New Jersey based on a “stream-of-commerce theory of jurisdiction.” Ibid. As discussed, however, the stream-of-commerce metaphor cannot super-sede either the mandate of the Due Process Clause or the limits on judicial authority that Clause ensures. The New Jersey Supreme Court also cited “significant policy rea-
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sons” to justify its holding, including the State's “stronginterest in protecting its citizens from defective products.” Id., at 75, 987 A. 2d, at 590. That interest is doubtless strong, but the Constitution commands restraint before discarding liberty in the name of expediency.
* * * Due process protects petitioner's right to be subject onlyto lawful authority. At no time did petitioner engage inany activities in New Jersey that reveal an intent to in-voke or benefit from the protection of its laws. New Jerseyis without power to adjudge the rights and liabilities of J. McIntyre, and its exercise of jurisdiction would violate due process. The contrary judgment of the New Jersey Su-preme Court is
Reversed.
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BREYER, J., concurring in judgment
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 09–1343
J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD., PETITIONER v.
ROBERT NICASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF
ROSEANNE NICASTRO
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW
JERSEY
[June 27, 2011]
JUSTICE BREYER, with whom JUSTICE ALITO joins, con-curring in the judgment.
The Supreme Court of New Jersey adopted a broad understanding of the scope of personal jurisdiction basedon its view that “[t]he increasingly fast-paced globalization of the world economy has removed national borders asbarriers to trade.” Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery Amer-ica, Ltd., 201 N. J. 48, 52, 987 A. 2d 575, 577 (2010). I do not doubt that there have been many recent changes in commerce and communication, many of which are not anticipated by our precedents. But this case does not present any of those issues. So I think it unwise to an-nounce a rule of broad applicability without full considera-tion of the modern-day consequences.
In my view, the outcome of this case is determined byour precedents. Based on the facts found by the New Jersey courts, respondent Robert Nicastro failed to meet his burden to demonstrate that it was constitutionallyproper to exercise jurisdiction over petitioner J. McIntyreMachinery, Ltd. (British Manufacturer), a British firmthat manufactures scrap-metal machines in Great Britainand sells them through an independent distributor in theUnited States (American Distributor). On that basis, I
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BREYER, J., concurring in judgment
agree with the plurality that the contrary judgment of the Supreme Court of New Jersey should be reversed.
I In asserting jurisdiction over the British Manufacturer,the Supreme Court of New Jersey relied most heavily on three primary facts as providing constitutionally sufficient“contacts” with New Jersey, thereby making it funda- mentally fair to hale the British Manufacturer before its courts: (1) The American Distributor on one occasion sold and shipped one machine to a New Jersey customer, namely, Mr. Nicastro's employer, Mr. Curcio; (2) the Brit-ish Manufacturer permitted, indeed wanted, its independ-ent American Distributor to sell its machines to anyone inAmerica willing to buy them; and (3) representatives of the British Manufacturer attended trade shows in “such cities as Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Orlando, SanDiego, and San Francisco.” Id., at 54–55, 987 A. 2d, at 578–579. In my view, these facts do not provide contactsbetween the British firm and the State of New Jerseyconstitutionally sufficient to support New Jersey's asser-tion of jurisdiction in this case.None of our precedents finds that a single isolated sale, even if accompanied by the kind of sales effort indicated here, is sufficient. Rather, this Court's previous holdingssuggest the contrary. The Court has held that a singlesale to a customer who takes an accident-causing product to a different State (where the accident takes place) is nota sufficient basis for asserting jurisdiction. See World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U. S. 286 (1980).And the Court, in separate opinions, has strongly sug-gested that a single sale of a product in a State does not constitute an adequate basis for asserting jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant, even if that defendant places his goods in the stream of commerce, fully aware (andhoping) that such a sale will take place. See Asahi Metal
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Industry Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Solano Cty., 480
U. S. 102, 111, 112 (1987) (opinion of O'Connor, J.) (requir-ing “something more” than simply placing “a product into the stream of commerce,” even if defendant is “awar[e]”that the stream “may or will sweep the product into theforum State”); id., at 117 (Brennan, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) (jurisdiction should lie wherea sale in a State is part of “the regular and anticipated flow” of commerce into the State, but not where that sale is only an “edd[y],” i.e., an isolated occurrence); id., at 122 (Stevens, J., concurring in part and concurring in judg-ment) (indicating that “the volume, the value, and the hazardous character” of a good may affect the jurisdic-tional inquiry and emphasizing Asahi's “regular course of dealing”).
Here, the relevant facts found by the New Jersey Su-preme Court show no “regular . . . flow” or “regular course”of sales in New Jersey; and there is no “something more,” such as special state-related design, advertising, advice,marketing, or anything else. Mr. Nicastro, who here bears the burden of proving jurisdiction, has shown no specificeffort by the British Manufacturer to sell in New Jersey. He has introduced no list of potential New Jersey custom-ers who might, for example, have regularly attended tradeshows. And he has not otherwise shown that the British Manufacturer “purposefully avail[ed] itself of the privilegeof conducting activities” within New Jersey, or that it de-livered its goods in the stream of commerce “with theexpectation that they will be purchased” by New Jersey users. World-Wide Volkswagen, supra, at 297–298 (inter-nal quotation marks omitted).
There may well have been other facts that Mr. Nicastrocould have demonstrated in support of jurisdiction. And the dissent considers some of those facts. See post, at 3 (opinion of GINSBURG, J.) (describing the size and scopeof New Jersey's scrap-metal business). But the plaintiff
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bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction, and here I would take the facts precisely as the New Jersey SupremeCourt stated them. Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Com-pagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456 U. S. 694, 709 (1982); Blakey v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 164 N. J. 38, 71, 751
A. 2d 538, 557 (2000); see 201 N. J., at 54–56, 987 A. 2d, at 578–579; App. to Pet. for Cert. 128a–137a (trial court's“reasoning and finding(s)”).
Accordingly, on the record present here, resolving thiscase requires no more than adhering to our precedents.
II I would not go further. Because the incident at issue in this case does not implicate modern concerns, and because the factual record leaves many open questions, this is anunsuitable vehicle for making broad pronouncements that refashion basic jurisdictional rules.
A The plurality seems to state strict rules that limit juris-diction where a defendant does not “inten[d] to submit to the power of a sovereign” and cannot “be said to havetargeted the forum.” Ante, at 7. But what do those stan-dards mean when a company targets the world by selling products from its Web site? And does it matter if, instead of shipping the products directly, a company consigns the products through an intermediary (say, Amazon.com) who then receives and fulfills the orders? And what if the company markets its products through popup advertise-ments that it knows will be viewed in a forum? Those issues have serious commercial consequences but are totally absent in this case.
B But though I do not agree with the plurality's seemingly strict no-jurisdiction rule, I am not persuaded by the absolute approach adopted by the New Jersey Supreme
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Court and urged by respondent and his amici. Under that view, a producer is subject to jurisdiction for a products-liability action so long as it “knows or reasonably shouldknow that its products are distributed through a nation-wide distribution system that might lead to those products being sold in any of the fifty states.” 201 N. J., at 76–77, 987 A. 2d, at 592 (emphasis added). In the context of this case, I cannot agree.
For one thing, to adopt this view would abandon theheretofore accepted inquiry of whether, focusing upon the relationship between “the defendant, the forum, and the litigation,” it is fair, in light of the defendant's contacts with that forum, to subject the defendant to suit there. Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U. S. 186, 204 (1977) (emphasis added). It would ordinarily rest jurisdiction instead uponno more than the occurrence of a product-based accident inthe forum State. But this Court has rejected the notion that a defendant's amenability to suit “travel[s] with the chattel.” World-Wide Volkswagen, 444 U. S., at 296.
For another, I cannot reconcile so automatic a rule with the constitutional demand for “minimum contacts” and “purposefu[l] avail[ment],” each of which rest upon aparticular notion of defendant-focused fairness. Id., at 291, 297 (internal quotation marks omitted). A rule like the New Jersey Supreme Court's would permit every Stateto assert jurisdiction in a products-liability suit against any domestic manufacturer who sells its products (made anywhere in the United States) to a national distributor, no matter how large or small the manufacturer, no matterhow distant the forum, and no matter how few the number of items that end up in the particular forum at issue. What might appear fair in the case of a large manufac-turer which specifically seeks, or expects, an equal-sized distributor to sell its product in a distant State might seem unfair in the case of a small manufacturer (say, anAppalachian potter) who sells his product (cups and sau-
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cers) exclusively to a large distributor, who resells a single item (a coffee mug) to a buyer from a distant State (Ha-waii). I know too little about the range of these or in-between possibilities to abandon in favor of the more absolute rule what has previously been this Court's lessabsolute approach.
Further, the fact that the defendant is a foreign, ratherthan a domestic, manufacturer makes the basic fairness of an absolute rule yet more uncertain. I am again less certain than is the New Jersey Supreme Court that the nature of international commerce has changed so sig- nificantly as to require a new approach to personal jurisdiction.
It may be that a larger firm can readily “alleviate therisk of burdensome litigation by procuring insurance, passing the expected costs on to customers, or, if the risksare too great, severing its connection with the State.” World-Wide Volkswagen, supra, at 297. But manufactur-ers come in many shapes and sizes. It may be fundamen-tally unfair to require a small Egyptian shirt maker, a Brazilian manufacturing cooperative, or a Kenyan coffee farmer, selling its products through international distribu-tors, to respond to products-liability tort suits in virtuallyevery State in the United States, even those in respect to which the foreign firm has no connection at all but the sale of a single (allegedly defective) good. And a rule like the New Jersey Supreme Court suggests would require everyproduct manufacturer, large or small, selling to Americandistributors to understand not only the tort law of everyState, but also the wide variance in the way courts withindifferent States apply that law. See, e.g., Dept. of Justice,Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, Tort Trials and Verdicts in Large Counties, 2001, p. 11 (reporting percent-age of plaintiff winners in tort trials among 46 populouscounties, ranging from 17.9% (Worcester, Mass.) to 69.1% (Milwaukee, Wis.)).
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C At a minimum, I would not work such a change to thelaw in the way either the plurality or the New JerseySupreme Court suggests without a better understandingof the relevant contemporary commercial circumstances. Insofar as such considerations are relevant to any changein present law, they might be presented in a case (unlike the present one) in which the Solicitor General partici-pates. Cf. Tr. of Oral Arg. in Goodyear Dunlop Tires Op-erations, S. A. v. Brown, O. T. 2010, No. 10–76, pp. 20–22(Government declining invitation at oral argument to giveits views with respect to issues in this case). This case presents no such occasion, and so I again re-iterate that I would adhere strictly to our precedentsand the limited facts found by the New Jersey Supreme Court. And on those grounds, I do not think we can find jurisdiction in this case. Accordingly, though I agree with the plurality as to the outcome of this case, I concur onlyin the judgment of that opinion and not its reasoning.
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GINSBURG, J., dissenting
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 09–1343
J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD., PETITIONER v.
ROBERT NICASTRO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF
ROSEANNE NICASTRO
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW
JERSEY
[June 27, 2011] JUSTICE GINSBURG, with whom JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting.
A foreign industrialist seeks to develop a market in theUnited States for machines it manufactures. It hopes toderive substantial revenue from sales it makes to United States purchasers. Where in the United States buyersreside does not matter to this manufacturer. Its goal issimply to sell as much as it can, wherever it can. It ex-cludes no region or State from the market it wishes to reach. But, all things considered, it prefers to avoid prod-ucts liability litigation in the United States. To that end, it engages a U. S. distributor to ship its machines state-side. Has it succeeded in escaping personal jurisdiction ina State where one of its products is sold and causes injury or even death to a local user?
Under this Court's pathmarking precedent in Interna-tional Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U. S. 310 (1945), and subsequent decisions, one would expect the answer to beunequivocally, “No.” But instead, six Justices of this Court, in divergent opinions, tell us that the manufacturer has avoided the jurisdiction of our state courts, except perhaps in States where its products are sold in sizeablequantities. Inconceivable as it may have seemed yester-
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day, the splintered majority today “turn[s] the clock back to the days before modern long-arm statutes when amanufacturer, to avoid being haled into court where a user is injured, need only Pilate-like wash its hands of a prod-uct by having independent distributors market it.” Wein-traub, A Map Out of the Personal Jurisdiction Labyrinth,28 U. C. Davis L. Rev. 531, 555 (1995).
I On October 11, 2001, a three-ton metal shearing ma-chine severed four fingers on Robert Nicastro's right hand. Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery America, Ltd., 201 N. J. 48, 53, 987 A. 2d 575, 577 (2010); see App. 6a–8a (Com-plaint). Alleging that the machine was a dangerous prod-uct defectively made, Nicastro sought compensation from the machine's manufacturer, J. McIntyre Machinery Ltd. (McIntyre UK). Established in 1872 as a United Kingdomcorporation, and headquartered in Nottingham, England, McIntyre UK “designs, develops and manufactures a com-plete range of equipment for metal recycling.” Id., at 22a, 33a. The company's product line, as advertised onMcIntyre UK's Web site, includes “metal shears, balers, cable and can recycling equipment, furnaces, casting equip-ment and . . . the world's best aluminium dross process- ing and cooling system.” Id., at 31a. McIntyre UKholds both United States and European patents on its technology. 201 N. J., at 55, 987 A. 2d, at 579; App. 36a.The machine that injured Nicastro, a “McIntyre Model640 Shear,” sold in the United States for $24,900 in 1995, id., at 43a, and features a “massive cutting capacity,” id., at 44a. According to McIntyre UK's product brochure, the machine is “use[d] throughout the [w]orld.” Ibid. McIn-tyre UK represented in the brochure that, by “incorpo-rat[ing] off-the-shelf hydraulic parts from suppliers withinternational sales outlets,” the 640 Shear's design guar-antees serviceability “wherever [its customers] may be
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based.” Ibid. The instruction manual advises “owner[s] and operators of a 640 Shear [to] make themselves aware of [applicable health and safety regulations],” including“the American National Standards Institute Regulations (USA) for the use of Scrap Metal Processing Equipment.” Id., at 46a.
Nicastro operated the 640 Shear in the course of his employment at Curcio Scrap Metal (CSM) in SaddleBrook, New Jersey. Id., at 7a, 43a. “New Jersey has long been a hotbed of scrap-metal businesses . . . .” See Drake, The Scrap-Heap Rollup Hits New Jersey, Business NewsNew Jersey, June 1, 1998, p. 1. In 2008, New Jersey recycling facilities processed 2,013,730 tons of scrap iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals—more than any otherState—outpacing Kentucky, its nearest competitor, bynearly 30 percent. Von Haaren, Themelis, & Goldstein, The State of Garbage in America, BioCycle, Oct. 2010,
p. 19.
CSM's owner, Frank Curcio, “first heard of [McIntyreUK's] machine while attending an Institute of Scrap Metal Industries [(ISRI)] convention in Las Vegas in 1994 or1995, where [McIntyre UK] was an exhibitor.” App. 78a.ISRI “presents the world's largest scrap recycling industrytrade show each year.” Id., at 47a. The event attracts “owners [and] managers of scrap processing companies”and others “interested in seeing—and purchasing—newequipment.” Id., at 48a–49a. According to ISRI, morethan 3,000 potential buyers of scrap processing and recy-cling equipment attend its annual conventions, “primarily because th[e] exposition provides them with the most comprehensive industry-related shopping experience concentrated in a single, convenient location.” Id., at 47a. Exhibitors who are ISRI members pay $3,000 for 10' x 10' booth space. Id., at 48a–49a.1
—————— 1New Jersey is home to nearly 100 ISRI members. See Institute of
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McIntyre UK representatives attended every ISRI convention from 1990 through 2005. Id., at 114a–115a. These annual expositions were held in diverse venues across the United States; in addition to Las Vegas, con-ventions were held 1990–2005 in New Orleans, Orlando, San Antonio, and San Francisco. Ibid. McIntyre UK's president, Michael Pownall, regularly attended ISRI con-ventions. Ibid. He attended ISRI's Las Vegas conven-tion the year CSM's owner first learned of, and saw, the 640 Shear. Id., at 78a–79a, 115a. McIntyre UK exhibited its products at ISRI trade shows, the company acknowl-edged, hoping to reach “anyone interested in the machinefrom anywhere in the United States.” Id., at 161a.
Although McIntyre UK's U. S. sales figures are not inthe record, it appears that for several years in the 1990's,earnings from sales of McIntyre UK products in the United States “ha[d] been good” in comparison to “the rest of the world.” Id., at 136a (Letter from Sally Johnson,McIntyre UK's Managing Director, to Gary and MaryGaither, officers of McIntyre UK's exclusive distributor in the United States (Jan. 13, 1999)). In response to inter-rogatories, McIntyre UK stated that its commissioning engineer had installed the company's equipment in severalStates—Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia, and Washing-ton. Id., at 119a.
From at least 1995 until 2001, McIntyre UK retained an Ohio-based company, McIntyre Machinery America, Ltd.(McIntyre America), “as its exclusive distributor for the en-tire United States.” Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery America, Ltd., 399 N. J. Super. 539, 558, 945 A. 2d 92, 104 (App. 2008).2 Though similarly named, the two companies —————— Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., Member Directory, http://www.isri.org/imis15_prod/core/directory.aspx (as visited June 24, 2011, and availablein Clerk of Court's case file).
2McIntyre America filed for bankruptcy in 2001, is no longer operat-ing, and has not participated in this lawsuit. Brief for Petitioner 3.
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were separate and independent entities with “no common-ality of ownership or management.” Id., at 545, 945 A. 2d, at 95. In invoices and other written communications, McIntyre America described itself as McIntyre UK's na-tional distributor, “America's Link” to “Quality MetalProcessing Equipment” from England. App. 43a, 78a.
In a November 23, 1999 letter to McIntyre America,McIntyre UK's president spoke plainly about the manufac-turer's objective in authorizing the exclusive distributor-ship: “All we wish to do is sell our products in the [United]States—and get paid!” Id., at 134a. Notably, McIntyre America was concerned about U. S. litigation involving McIntyre UK products, in which the distributor had been named as a defendant. McIntyre UK counseled McIntyreAmerica to respond personally to the litigation, but reas-sured its distributor that “the product was built and de-signed by McIntyre Machinery in the UK and the buck stops here—if there's something wrong with the machine.” Id., at 129a–130a. Answering jurisdictional interrogato-ries, McIntyre UK stated that it had been named as a defendant in lawsuits in Illinois, Kentucky, Massachu-setts, and West Virginia. Id., at 98a, 108a. And in corre-spondence with McIntyre America, McIntyre UK noted that the manufacturer had products liability insurance coverage. Id., at 129a.
Over the years, McIntyre America distributed several McIntyre UK products to U. S. customers, including, inaddition to the 640 Shear, McIntyre UK's “Niagara” and “Tardis” systems, wire strippers, and can machines. Id., at 123a–128a. In promoting McIntyre UK's products atconventions and demonstration sites and in trade journaladvertisements, McIntyre America looked to McIntyre UK
——————
After “the demise of . . . McIntyre America,” McIntyre UK authorized a
Texas-based company to serve as exclusive United States distributor of
McIntyre UK shears. App. 52a–53a.
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for direction and guidance. Ibid. To achieve McIntyreUK's objective, i.e., “to sell [its] machines to customersthroughout the United States,” 399 N. J. Super., at 548, 945 A. 2d, at 97, “the two companies [were acting] closely in concert with each other,” ibid. McIntyre UK neverinstructed its distributor to avoid certain States or regionsof the country; rather, as just noted, the manufacturer engaged McIntyre America to attract customers “from anywhere in the United States.” App. 161a.
In sum, McIntyre UK's regular attendance and exhibi-tions at ISRI conventions was surely a purposeful step toreach customers for its products “anywhere in the United States.” At least as purposeful was McIntyre UK's en-gagement of McIntyre America as the conduit for sales of McIntyre UK's machines to buyers “throughout the UnitedStates.” Given McIntyre UK's endeavors to reach and profit from the United States market as a whole, Nicas-tro's suit, I would hold, has been brought in a forum en-tirely appropriate for the adjudication of his claim. He alleges that McIntyre UK's shear machine was defectivelydesigned or manufactured and, as a result, caused injuryto him at his workplace. The machine arrived in Nicas-tro's New Jersey workplace not randomly or fortuitously,but as a result of the U. S. connections and distribution system that McIntyre UK deliberately arranged.3 On
—————— 3McIntyre UK resisted Nicastro's efforts to determine whether otherMcIntyre machines had been sold to New Jersey customers. See id., at 100a–101a. McIntyre did allow that McIntyre America “may haveresold products it purchased from [McIntyre UK] to a buyer in NewJersey,” id., at 117a, but said it kept no record of the ultimate destina-tion of machines it shipped to its distributor, ibid. A private investiga-tor engaged by Nicastro found at least one McIntyre UK machine, ofunspecified type, in use in New Jersey. Id., at 140a–144a. But McIn-tyre UK objected that the investigator's report was “unsworn and based upon hearsay.” Reply Brief 10. Moreover, McIntyre UK maintained, noevidence showed that the machine the investigator found in New Jersey had been “sold into [that State].” Ibid.
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what sensible view of the allocation of adjudicatory au-thority could the place of Nicastro's injury within the United States be deemed off limits for his products liabil-ity claim against a foreign manufacturer who targeted theUnited States (including all the States that constitute the Nation) as the territory it sought to develop?
II A few points on which there should be no genuine de-bate bear statement at the outset. First, all agree, Mc-Intyre UK surely is not subject to general (all-purpose)jurisdiction in New Jersey courts, for that foreign-countrycorporation is hardly “at home” in New Jersey. See Good-year Dunlop Tires Operations, S. A. v. Brown, post, at 2–3, 9–13. The question, rather, is one of specific jurisdiction, which turns on an “affiliatio[n] between the forum and the underlying controversy.” Goodyear Dunlop, post, at 2 (quoting von Mehren & Trautman, Jurisdiction to Adjudi-cate: A Suggested Analysis, 79 Harv. L. Rev. 1121, 1136(1966) (hereinafter von Mehren & Trautman); internal quotation marks omitted); see also Goodyear Dunlop, post,at 7–8. Second, no issue of the fair and reasonable allocation of adjudicatory authority among States of the United States is present in this case. New Jersey's exercise of personaljurisdiction over a foreign manufacturer whose dangerousproduct caused a workplace injury in New Jersey does nottread on the domain, or diminish the sovereignty, of anysister State. Indeed, among States of the United States, the State in which the injury occurred would seem most suitable for litigation of a products liability tort claim. See World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U. S. 286, 297 (1980) (if a manufacturer or distributor endeavors to develop a market for a product in several States, it isreasonable “to subject it to suit in one of those States if its allegedly defective [product] has there been the source of
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injury”); 28 U. S. C. §1391(a)–(b) (in federal-court suits,whether resting on diversity or federal-question jurisdic-tion, venue is proper in the judicial district “in which asubstantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred”).
Third, the constitutional limits on a state court's adjudi-catory authority derive from considerations of due process, not state sovereignty. As the Court clarified in Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, 456
U. S. 694 (1982): “The restriction on state sovereign power described in World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. . . . must be seen as ul-timately a function of the individual liberty interestpreserved by the Due Process Clause. That Clause is the only source of the personal jurisdiction require-ment and the Clause itself makes no mention of fed-eralism concerns. Furthermore, if the federalism con-cept operated as an independent restriction on thesovereign power of the court, it would not be possible to waive the personal jurisdiction requirement: Indi-vidual actions cannot change the powers of sover-eignty, although the individual can subject himself to
powers from which he may otherwise be protected.” Id., at 703, n. 10.
See also Shaffer v. Heitner, 433 U. S. 186, 204, and n. 20 (1977) (recognizing that “the mutually exclusive sover-eignty of the States [is not] the central concern of theinquiry into personal jurisdiction”). But see ante, at 7 (plurality opinion) (asserting that “sovereign authority,” not “fairness,” is the “central concept” in determiningpersonal jurisdiction).
Finally, in International Shoe itself, and decisions there-after, the Court has made plain that legal fictions, notably “presence” and “implied consent,” should be discarded, for they conceal the actual bases on which jurisdiction rests.
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See 326 U. S., at 316, 318; Hutchinson v. Chase & Gilbert, 45 F. 2d 139, 141 (CA2 1930) (L. Hand, J.) (“nothing isgained by [resort to words that] concea[l] what we do”). “[T]he relationship among the defendant, the forum, and the litigation” determines whether due process permits theexercise of personal jurisdiction over a defendant, Shaf- fer, 433 U. S., at 204, and “fictions of implied consent” or “corporate presence” do not advance the proper inquiry, id., at 202. See also Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin, 495 U. S. 604, 618 (1990) (plurality opinion) (International Shoe “cast . . . aside” fictions of “consent” and “presence”).
Whatever the state of academic debate over the role of consent in modern jurisdictional doctrines,4 the plurality'snotion that consent is the animating concept draws no support from controlling decisions of this Court. Quite the contrary, the Court has explained, a forum can exercise jurisdiction when its contacts with the controversy are sufficient; invocation of a fictitious consent, the Court has repeatedly said, is unnecessary and unhelpful. See, e.g., Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 471 U. S. 462, 472 (1985) (Due Process Clause permits “forum . . . to assert specific jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant who has notconsented to suit there”); McGee v. International Life Ins.
—————— 4Compare Brilmayer, Rights, Fairness, and Choice of Law, 98 Yale
L. J. 1277, 1304–1306 (1989) (hereinafter Brilmayer) (criticizing as circular jurisdictional theories founded on “consent” or “[s]ubmission tostate authority”), Perdue, Personal Jurisdiction and the Beetle in the Box, 32 Boston College L. Rev. 529, 536–544 (1991) (same), withTrangsrud, The Federal Common Law of Personal Jurisdiction, 57 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 849, 884–885 (1989) (endorsing a consent-based doctrineof personal jurisdiction), Epstein, Consent, Not Power, as the Basis ofJurisdiction, 2001 U. Chi. Legal Forum 1, 2, 30–32 (urging that “theconsent principle neatly explains the dynamics of many of our jurisdic-tional doctrines,” but recognizing that in tort cases, the victim ordinar-ily should be able to sue in the place where the harm occurred).
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Co., 355 U. S. 220, 222 (1957) (“[T]his Court [has] aban-doned ‘consent,' ‘doing business,' and ‘presence' as thestandard for measuring the extent of state judicial power over [out-of-state] corporations.”).5
III This case is illustrative of marketing arrangements for sales in the United States common in today's commercialworld.6 A foreign-country manufacturer engages a U. S.company to promote and distribute the manufacturer'sproducts, not in any particular State, but anywhere andeverywhere in the United States the distributor can at-tract purchasers. The product proves defective and in-jures a user in the State where the user lives or works. Often, as here, the manufacturer will have liability insur-ance covering personal injuries caused by its products. See Cupp, Redesigning Successor Liability, 1999 U. Ill.
L. Rev. 845, 870–871 (noting the ready availability ofproducts liability insurance for manufacturers and citing a study showing, “between 1986 and 1996, [such] insurance
—————— 5But see ante, at 4–8 (plurality opinion) (maintaining that a forum may be fair and reasonable, based on its links to the episode in suit, yet off limits because the defendant has not submitted to the State's authority). The plurality's notion that jurisdiction over foreign corpora-tions depends upon the defendant's “submission,” ante, at 6, seems scarcely different from the long-discredited fiction of implied consent.It bears emphasis that a majority of this Court's members do not sharethe plurality's view. 6Last year, the United States imported nearly 2 trillion dollars in foreign goods. Census Bureau, U. S. International Trade in Goods and Services (Apr. 2011), p. 1, http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf (as visited June 24, 2011, andin Clerk of Court's case file). Capital goods, such as the metal shearmachine that injured Nicastro, accounted for almost 450 billion dollarsin imports for 2010. Id., at 6. New Jersey is the fourth-largest destina-tion for manufactured commodities imported into the United States,after California, Texas, and New York. Id., FT–900 Supplement, p. 3.
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cost manufacturers, on average, only sixteen cents for each $100 of product sales”); App. 129–130.
When industrial accidents happen, a long-arm statute in the State where the injury occurs generally permits asser-tion of jurisdiction, upon giving proper notice, over theforeign manufacturer. For example, the State's statute might provide, as does New York's long-arm statute, forthe “exercise [of]