Burnham v. Superior Court

495 U.S. 604 (1990)

What's Going On?

Petitioner, a nonresident defendant, sought review of a decision upholding California's exercise of personal jurisdiction over him in a divorce action because Petitioner had been served while physically present in California.

Who's Who?

Petitioner     :

Dennis Burnham – (original defendant) New Jersey resident, involved in a pending divorce action with wife, Respondent Francie Burnham.

Respondent :

Superior Court of California[, County of Marin] – trial court attempting to exercise personal jurisdiction over Petitioner;
Francie Burnham – (original plaintiff) California resident, involved in a pending divorce action with husband, Petitioner Dennis Burnham.

Facts:

Petitioner Dennis Burnham, a New Jersey resident, and Respondent Francie Burnham, a California resident, separated in July of 1977 and agreed to get a divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences. Respondent moved to California and took custody of the parties' two children. Contrary to his agreement with Respondent Francie, Petitioner filed for a divorce in New Jersey state court on grounds of desertion. Respondent Francie then brought suit for divorce in a California state court. In January, 1988, Petitioner traveled to California on business. After conducting his business affairs, Petitioner traveled north in California to visit his two children, who resided with Respondent Francie. Petitioner was served with a California court summons and Respondent Francie's divorce petition while at Respondent's home. Petitioner made a special appearance in Respondent California Superior Court to contest the court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over him because his contacts with California were limited to business and child visitation. Both the Respondent Superior Court and the appellate court held that jurisdiction was valid because Petitioner was personally served while present in California. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Issue:

May a court obtain jurisdiction over a nonresident who was personally served with process while temporarily within the forum state, in a suit unrelated to his activities in the state, without violating the requirements of due process?

Decision:

Yes. It is a firmly established principle that the courts of a state have jurisdiction over nonresidents who are physically present in the state. At the time the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, American courts shared the understanding that once the courts of a state had acquired jurisdiction over such a nonresident through proper service of process, the state could retain jurisdiction to enter judgment against that nonresident without regard to the length of his presence within the state. Consistent and systematic contacts between the nonresident defendant and the forum are not required when jurisdiction is established based on physical presence. Jurisdiction based on physical presence alone constitutes due process. Not all assertions of state-court jurisdiction have to be evaluated according to the minimum contacts standard. Affirmed.

Basic Rule:

Jurisdiction based on physical presence alone constitutes due process.

Concurrence (Brennan):

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does generally permit a state court to exercise jurisdiction over a defendant based on that defendant's physical presence within the state; however, it is insufficient to justify the law based solely on the fact that it has historically been considered constitutional. An inquiry into the fairness of the in-state service rule should have been made, even though it would have yielded the same result.

Concurrence (Stevens):

It is sufficient to justify the Court's decision in this case based on historical evidence and the fairness of the in-state service rule. To state anything more in the Court's opinion would risk a decision with an overly broad reach.

Terms:

Special appearance :

The defendant's coming into court for the sole purpose of attacking the court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

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