Law School Case Briefs
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Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin
Supreme Court of the United States (1990) | 109 L. Ed. 2d 631; 110 S. Ct. 2105; 495 U.S. 604; 1990 U.S. LEXIS 2700; 58 U.S.L.W. 4629
TL;DR: A non-resident husband was served with divorce papers while briefly visiting his children in California. The Supreme Court upheld the state's personal jurisdiction, finding that service of process on a person physically present in a state satisfies due process, regardless of their contacts.
Legal Significance: This case affirmed the constitutionality of "transient" or "tag" jurisdiction. It established that a defendant's physical presence alone is a sufficient basis for general personal jurisdiction, existing independently of the "minimum contacts" analysis required for absent defendants under *International Shoe*.