Sinema affair lawsuit turns on tort that 42 states have already scrapped
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's legal effort to escape a North Carolina alienation-of-affection lawsuit is in focus ahead of an evidentiary hearing set for Aug. 19. The core question is whether the court has jurisdiction when Sinema, in her own depositions, confirmed that every sexual encounter with Matthew Ammel, her married security guard, occurred outside the state.
Key takeaways
- Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is seeking to escape a North Carolina alienation-of-affection lawsuit filed by Heather Ammel, with an evidentiary hearing set for Aug. 19.
- Sinema's counsel argues North Carolina lacks jurisdiction because her depositions confirmed every sexual encounter with Matthew Ammel occurred outside the state, in places including California, New York, Washington D.C., Arizona, and Colorado.
- Alienation of affection has been abolished in 42 states, and only Hawaii, North Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah still recognize it.
- Heather Ammel contends the marital harm addressed by the tort resides in North Carolina regardless of where the acts occurred.
- The Supreme Court has struck down criminalization of consensual adult sex but has never ruled such civil tort claims unconstitutional, which keeps the action alive in the six remaining states.
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's legal effort to escape a North Carolina alienation-of-affection lawsuit is in focus ahead of an evidentiary hearing set for Aug. 19. The core question is whether the court has jurisdiction when Sinema, in her own depositions, confirmed that every sexual encounter with Matthew Ammel, her married security guard, occurred outside the state.
The tort itself frames the setup. Alienation of affection has been abolished in 42 states. The six that still recognize it are Hawaii, North Carolina, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. Heather Ammel, Matthew's wife, filed in North Carolina. Sinema's counsel moved the case to federal court and sought dismissal, arguing that without any conduct in North Carolina, jurisdiction does not attach.
The jurisdictional argument
Sinema's depositions built the record against her. She described an initial encounter at a Napa, California, Airbnb: Matt Ammel kissed her, they went inside, and they had sex. She confirmed additional encounters at the New York wedding of CNN anchor Jessica Dean, at her Washington D.C. apartment, and in Arizona and Colorado. The parties do not contest the affair occurred; the dispute is purely about where.
Heather Ammel's position is that the marital harm, the injury the tort addresses, resides in North Carolina regardless of where the acts took place. The Ammels separated Nov. 1, 2024 and divorced in March 2026.
The tort has old roots. Jonathan Turley, a law professor who analyzed the case, traces alienation of affection to Winsmore v. Greenbank (1745), in which an English court found a paramour liable for depriving a husband of his legally enforceable right to his wife's company. Critics tie the action to a proprietary concept of marriage, and constitutional questions over civil liability for consensual relationships remain unresolved. The Supreme Court has struck down criminalization of consensual adult sex but has never ruled such civil tort claims unconstitutional, a distinction that keeps the action alive in the six remaining states.
The Aug. 19 evidentiary hearing is the next definitive date on the docket.
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Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on August 16, 2026. Source: foxnews.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.