Burnham v. Superior Court
United States Supreme Court
495 U.S. 604, 110 S. Ct. 2105, 109 L. Ed. 2d 631 (1990)
- Written by Alexis Tsotakos, JD
Facts
Dennis Burnham (plaintiff) and Francie Burnham were married in West Virginia. In July 1987, the couple was living in New Jersey with their two children when they agreed to get divorced. The couple agreed that Francie would move to California with the children and that they would divide their property evenly in an “irreconcilable differences” divorce. However, when Francie later pressed Dennis to honor the divorce and division agreement, he did not. In January 1988, Dennis traveled to California for business and to visit his children. While there, Francie had Dennis served with a California court summons and a California divorce petition. Dennis returned to New Jersey and filed a motion in the California court to quash the summons. Dennis argued that, under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, California could not exercise personal jurisdiction over him because he lacked minimum contacts with the state. The California courts denied the request and asserted they had personal jurisdiction over Dennis. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Scalia, J.)
Concurrence (Brennan, J.)
Concurrence (Stevens, J.)
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