Automakers Urge Justices to Weigh ‘Lingering’ Jurisdiction Issue

The U.S. Supreme Court should accept Ford Motor Co.'s request for review of two personal-injury cases involving cars sold out-of-state, an automakers’ group says. The question of whether advertising and other activities in a state that didn’t cause the harm at the heart of a suit are enough to support jurisdiction there “has lingered unanswered for decades,” it says.

And the state courts’ decisions in these cases would have a “pernicious impact” on car makers in particular, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said in its brief supporting Ford’s petition. Vehicles, whose purpose is to travel, often cross state lines and ...