Justices probe precedents — Ford Motor, Facebook, Walden — in Pruitt-NCAA argument

Throughout argument justices and counsel referenced U.S. Supreme Court and state precedents, asking whether analogies to products-liability or Internet cases apply when an association’s enforcement produces effects in a forum. Counsel debated whether Ford Motor Company’s market‑exploitation reasoning or the Facebook/Walden line (where contacts were deemed reactive) better controls the analysis.

The court pressed both sides on whether the locus of the underlying investigatory acts (Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana) or the location of the alleged injury (lost job opportunities in Alabama) should govern specific-jurisdiction analysis. Justices noted the difficulty of reconciling product-stream cases with cases limiting jurisdiction when the defendant’s physical acts occur elsewhere.