Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Claims Against Faruki Client

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint brought by a group of Covington Catholic High School students relating to the 2019 events at the Lincoln Memorial. Faruki attorney Jason Palmer successfully argued to a three-judge panel that a federal court sitting in Kentucky lacked personal jurisdiction over a non-resident private citizen who did nothing more than tweet about current events.

Like the District Court below, the Sixth Circuit rejected the plaintiffs' arguments that the Court had jurisdiction because the plaintiffs are Kentucky residents. The Court wrote that tweets sent from outside of Kentucky are not "acts" within Kentucky, and that those tweets do not sufficiently connect their author to the jurisdiction of Kentucky to allow jurisdiction under the United States Constitution. The Court wrote that the tweets "formed no contacts" with Kentucky at all. All of the claims against Faruki's client remain dismissed.