How does a defendant's voluntary participation in a scheme help establish jurisdiction?

The response is correct because a defendant's voluntary participation in a scheme demonstrates purposeful availment, which is a critical concept in establishing personal jurisdiction. Purposeful availment means that the defendant has actively engaged in activities that connect them to the forum state, intentionally using the benefits and protections of that state’s laws. When a defendant participates in a scheme that targets residents or resources of a specific state, it indicates that they have deliberately sought to benefit from the advantages of that jurisdiction. This means that they should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there, thus establishing a legitimate basis for jurisdiction.

If a defendant has not engaged in any purposeful availment but instead has distant ties or is merely sporadically connected to the state, such connections might not suffice to confer jurisdiction. This concept is essential in cases concerning fairness and due process, emphasizing that defendants should not be subjected to jurisdiction in a state unless they have established some meaningful connection to that state.