Hess v. Pawloski (1927) (car accident)

a.       Facts- Hess (D), a resident of Penn. was driving in Mass. and negligently struck/injured Pawloski (P). P sued D for damages under a Mass. statute which said that “driving on Mass. roads gives implied consent to jurisdiction of cases arising from use of said roads”. D appeared in Mass. Ct and defended claims on basis of Mass Ct’s not having proper personal jurisdiction over him

b.      Procedural History- Trial Ct found for P, Mass. Sup Ct upheld lower Ct

c.       Issue- Whether a State has the power to allow service by mail to non-residents in an effort to exercise jurisdiction in cases involving motor vehicle accidents

                                                  i.      Whether service by mail to non-resident violates Due Process Clause of 14^th Amendment

d.      Holding- Yes, a State DOES have the power to exercise jurisdiction over non-residents who use the State’s roads and cause accidents…even if service is by mail

e.       Rule- States are allowed to make their own laws regarding service of process, so long as they:

                                                  i.      Treat non-residents on the “same footing” as residents, AND

                                                ii.      Protect public interest

f.       Rationale-

                                                  i.      By accepting the “privilege” of driving on Mass. highways, D “impliedly consents” to being subject to State’s jurisdiction

1.      By accepting said privilege, non-resident acknowledges that it is not too far off to answer to any damages that result in accepting said privilege (ie. Being subject to State’s jurisdiction)

2.      Driving upon highways are “dangerous” (policy)…that is why it is a “privilege”

                                                ii.      Policy Argument: It is applied very narrowly, to cars on the highways only….it makes sense because residents could get into accidents with non-residents and the residents would have no way to sue if the non-resident goes back to his home State (no jurisdiction)

                                              iii.      This way, it gives P’s an convenient way to sue any D’s…in regards to car accidents

                                              iv.      Different than Pennoyer because: Hess only applies to motor vehicle accidents…and all parties driving in State consent to suits arising from said driving. And Mass. explicitly wrote out this law