Man suing for Internet slander finding law uncertain

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Posted 10:22AM on Monday, September 30, 2002

RALEIGH, N.C. - A man suing the creator of a Web site that accused him of being a homosexual has found himself at the center of a debate over which courts have jurisdicition in such cases. Daniel L'Hommedieu of Holly Springs filed suit against Praveen Kumar of Hudson, Ohio, in Wake County Superior Court, and a judge ruled that Kumar must come to North Carolina to defend himself against charges of defamation and libel. Kumar has asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to review the judge's decision. He argues that he has never visited North Carolina and that he isn't subject to its courts. He also said L'Hommedieu, 31, has no proof that the site targeted anyone in North Carolina or that anyone in the state saw the site. The question of jurisdiction has been raised before federal and state courts across the country and ultimately may be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Before the Internet Age, the answer was easy. If a newspaper libeled someone, the paper was sued in its hometown, where its audience was based, its defamatory statements were published and the person's reputation was harmed. The law hasn't caught up with the Internet. The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that courts in one state don't have jurisdiction over an out-of-state resident unless that person has had some dealings in that state, said David G. Post, a law professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and a senior fellow at the National Center on Technology & Law in Arlington, Va. Most courts have ruled that simply putting up a Web site does not establish jurisdiction over an out-of-state author. In the North Carolina case, L'Hommedieu argued that Kumar's Web site specifically identified him in the site's legal disclaimer. "This site focuses on no Dan L'Hommedieu in particular," the Web site read. "There are several Dan L'Hommedieus located in the United States including Dan L'Hommedieu from 30 Cmberland Creek R., leigh, North Carolina (919) 67-5784. ...Also there are over 1 million Dan L'Hommedieus located in France alone! This site merely suggests that somewhere out there a Dan L'Hommedieu is gay, which is probably true. So now that me not getting sued is out of the way enjoy!" It is not clear why L'Hommedieu was named on the Web site. "If it had just been my name, I wouldn't have cared," L'Hommedieu said. "But it physically identified me by name, address and phone number." C. Peter Erlinder, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., said he plans to file a Supreme Court appeal in a similar case. Erlinder represents an Alabama woman who says she was defamed by a Minnesota woman's postings on an Internet news group. In 1997, Katherine Griffis of Alabama won a $25,000 default judgment in her home state against Marianne Luban of Minnesota. Griffis tried to enforce the judgment against Luban in Minnesota and won at the trial and appellate courts. The Minnesota Supreme Court threw out the damage award in July, saying a Minnesotan can't be sued in Alabama. Luban's lawyer, John Borger of Minneapolis, lauded the state Supreme Court's ruling as sensible. "Otherwise," Borger said, "any time anyone put a posting up about Saddam Hussein, you would have Saddam suing them in Iraq where you would not have good result."