Burnham v. Superior Court of California, County of Marin (1989)
- Docket
- 89-44
- Decided
- 1989-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibit state courts from exercising jurisdiction over a nonresident who was temporarily in the state and was personally served with process in a suit unrelated to his presence in the state? Conclusion: No. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the 9-0 majority. The Supreme Court held that one of the most firmly established precedents in American judicial history is the fact that states have jurisdiction over nonresidents within their borders. As long as the “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice” are not offended by the state’s assertion of jurisdiction, there is no violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also held that the addition of a subjective jurisdiction determination to be made by a judge would make the process less fair. Justice Byron R. White wrote an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. He argued that there is no evidence that the rule allowing states to have jurisdiction over nonresidents had arbitrarily or unfairly violated due process. In his opinion concurring in judgment, Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. wrote that historical precedent is not the only factor that should determine whether the jurisdictional issue satisfies the Due Process Clause. He argued that, when a person visits a state, they knowingly and willingly avail themselves of the benefits of that state’s laws, and therefore are subject to them as well. Justice Thurgood Marshall, Justice Harry A. Blackmun, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor joined in the opinion concurring in judgment. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a separate opinion concurring in judgment where he argued that the majority’s opinion was unnecessarily broad, but he agreed with its conclusion.