Editing Personal jurisdiction (section)

===Principles===

Three fundamentals of personal jurisdiction constrain the ability of courts in the United States to bind individuals or property to its decisions: consent, power, and notice.<ref>''Pennoyer v. Neff'', 95 U.S. 714; {{Cite book
 | last = Yeazell
 | first = Stephen C.
 | title = Civil Procedure
 | publisher = Aspen Publishers
 | edition = 7th
 | year = 2008
 | location = p.71
 | url = https://archive.org/details/civilprocedure0007yeaz
 | isbn = 978-0-7355-6925-6
 | url-access = registration
 }}</ref>

====Consent====
The United States legal system is an [[adversarial system]]. Civil suits cannot be initiated by third parties, but must be filed by the aggrieved party who seeks redress. Generally, the action is initiated in the jurisdiction where the event occurred, where the defendant can be served or where the parties have agreed to have the case located. The filing of a complaint or ''prayer for relief'' is a voluntary action by the person aggrieved, and as a necessity of this request, the person seeking relief consents to be bound by the judgment of the court. The doctrine of consent is also extended to defendants who attend and litigate actions without challenging the court's personal jurisdiction. Consent may also derive from a pre-litigation agreement by the parties, such as a [[forum selection clause]] in a contract (not to be confused with a [[choice of law clause]]). Doctrines such as [[res judicata|claim preclusion]] prevent re-litigation of failed complaints in alternative forums. [[res judicata|Claim preclusion]] does not, however, prevent the refiling of a claim that was filed in a court that did not have personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

====Power====
In cases where a defendant challenges personal jurisdiction, a court may still exercise personal jurisdiction if it has independent power to do so.<ref>{{Cite book|title=American Jurisprudence|edition=2d ed. (Westlaw online version)|volume=20|chapter=Courts, section 95 |year=2013|author=Anne M. Payne<!--|access-date=2013-10-10-->}}</ref> This power is founded in the inherent nature of the State: [[sovereignty]] over secular affairs within its territory.<ref name=Pennoyer>{{ussc|name=Pennoyer v. Neff|link=|volume=95|page=714|pin=737|year=1877}}.</ref>

====Notice====
The [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth]] and [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] preserve the right of the individual to ''due process''. Due process requires that notice be given in a manner "reasonably calculated" to inform a party of the action affecting him. Originally, "Notice" (and the power of the State) was often exercised more forcefully, the defendant in a civil case sometimes being seized and brought before the court under a writ of ''[[capias ad respondendum]]''. Notice in such a case is inferred from consent of the defendant to go with the officer. Nowadays, when exercising power over an individual without consent, notice is usually given by formal delivery of suitable papers to the defendant ([[service of process]]).