Opinion
File No. 143956
The claim of the defendant H that § 33-322, concerning service on and jurisdiction over nonresident directors of domestic corporations, was unconstitutional and did not apply to him had no merit.
Memorandum filed March 8, 1966
Memorandum on plea in abatement. Plea overruled.
Levine Katz, of Hartford, for the plaintiff.
Apter Nahum, of Hartford, for the defendants, and special appearance for defendant R. Harrison.
Defendant Harrison raises two issues in his plea in abatement, (1) that § 33-322 of the General Statutes is not applicable to him, and (2) that if it is, the statute is unconstitutional. Since § 33-322 obviously applies to Harrison, the basis of his claim that it does not "is a puzzlement." As for Harrison's claim that Connecticut's "long arm" statute contravenes the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution, his legal reasoning is more attuned to the days of the Model T than to the jet age. Harrison's corporate contacts in the state are too numerous to be casual. Having used the state for his economic benefit, he cannot now use his nonresidency as a basis for avoiding judicial process. Harrison must bear the consequences of having purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting activities within the state. Reiner v. Arthur Murray, Inc., 26 Conn. Sup. 225, 230 (1966). Neither the due process clause nor the privileges and immunities clause permits an individual to play ducks and drakes with a state's jurisdiction.