In the
United States, the right to receive notice before the government deprives an individual of a protected interest is guaranteed, along with the opportunity to be heard, by the
Due Process Clauses in the
Fifth and
Fourteenth amendments. The
Sixth Amendment also specifically guarantees the right of a criminal defendant to be notified of the charges and their grounds. If a court bases
personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state or foreign defendant on a
long-arm statute, the court must carefully select a means of notifying the defendant, to comply with the notice requirement of due process. Sometimes this is done by serving agents of the defendant located within the state. Because out-of-state defendants cannot always be located easily, some state or local laws may allow for service by publication. An example of this would be printing a notice of the lawsuit in a newspaper published where the defendant is believed to reside. Because the failure of a defendant to appear in court results in a
default judgment against him, such measures must be sufficiently calculated to give actual notice to the defendant to satisfy due process. In
Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., the core case setting forth constitutional notice requirements, the
U.S. Supreme Court held that notice must be "reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections". Moreover, defendants must be notified by the "best practical means" available. ==Notice and knowledge==