Livingston v. Jefferson
United States Circuit Court for the District of Virginia
15 F.Cas. 660 No. 8411 (1811)
Thomas Jefferson (defendant), a Virginia citizen and former U.S. President, allegedly broke into Edward Livingston's (plaintiff) New Orleans dwelling and used tools taken from it to dig up and remove soil from Livingston's nearby land for his own use, destroying the parcel in the process. Livingston sued Jefferson for trespass in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Virginia, and Jefferson challenged that court's jurisdiction since neither the dwelling nor the land was located within Virginia; Livingston argued jurisdiction was proper simply because Jefferson himself was a Virginia citizen.
Whether a court may assert jurisdiction over a local action involving a resident defendant when the underlying events did not occur within the court's district.