Louis Brandeis

“ The part pertinent here is that, with certain inapplicable exceptions, 'no civil suit shall be brought in any District Court against any person by any original process or proceeding in any other district than that whereof he is an inhabitant.' [2] It is obvious that jurisdiction, in the sense of personal service within a district where suit has been brought, does not dispense with the necessity of proper venue. It is equally obvious that proper venue does not eliminate the requisite of personal jurisdiction over the defendant. ”

“ But no reason is suggested why Congress should have wished to compel every person summoned either to obey the Board's administrative order without question, or to litigate his right to refuse to do so in such district, however remote from his home or temporary residence, as the Board might select. The Interstate Commerce Commission which, throughout 38 years, has dealt in many different ways with most of the railroads of the United States, has never exercised, or asserted, or sought to secure for itself, such broad powers. ”

“ We are of opinion that by the phrase 'any District Court of the United States' Congress meant any such court 'of competent jurisdiction.' The phrase 'any court' is frequently used in the federal statutes and has been interpreted under similar circumstances as meaning 'any court of competent jurisdiction.' [7] By the general rule the jurisdiction of a District Court in personam has been limited to the district of which the defendant is an inhabitant or in which he can be found. ”