Burnham v. Superior Court of California, County of Marin (burnham, Real Party in Interest)

Decided May 29, 1990. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-44 · 495 U.S. 604 (1990) · Cited 683 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Shaffer v. Heitner · 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
• International Shoe Co. v. Washington · 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
• Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz · 471 U.S. 462 (1985)
• Helicopteros Nacionales De Colombia, S. A. v. Hall · 466 U.S. 408 (1984)
• World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson · 444 U.S. 286 (1980)
• Hanson v. Denckla · 357 U.S. 235 (1958)
• Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., Solano Cty. · 480 U.S. 102 (1987)
• Milliken v. Meyer · 311 U.S. 457 (1941)
• Perkins v. Benguet Consolidated Mining Co. · 342 U.S. 437 (1952)
• Hess v. Pawloski · 274 U.S. 352 (1927)
• Insurance Corp. of Ireland v. Compagnie Des Bauxites De Guinee · 456 U.S. 694 (1982)
• McGee v. International Life Insurance · 355 U.S. 220 (1957)
• Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc. · 465 U.S. 770 (1984)
• Kulko v. Superior Court of Cal., City and County of San Francisco · 436 U.S. 84 (1978)
• Den Ex Dem. Murray v. Hoboken Land & Improvement Co. · 59 U.S. 272 (1856)
• Rush v. Savchuk · 444 U.S. 320 (1980)
• Ferens v. John Deere Co. · 494 U.S. 516 (1990)
• St. Clair v. Cox · 106 U.S. 350 (1882)
• Baldwin v. Fish and Game Comm'n of Mont. · 436 U.S. 371 (1978)
• Harris v. Balk · 198 U.S. 215 (1905)
• Kane v. New Jersey · 242 U.S. 160 (1916)
• Philadelphia & Reading Railway Co. v. McKibbin · 243 U.S. 264 (1917)
• McDonald v. Mabee · 243 U.S. 90 (1917)
• Goldey v. Morning News · 156 U.S. 518 (1895)
• Supreme Court of NH v. Piper · 470 U.S. 274 (1985)
• Supreme Court of Virginia v. Friedman · 487 U.S. 59 (1988)
• New York Life Insurance v. Dunlevy · 241 U.S. 518 (1916)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Mallory v. Norfolk Southern R. Co · 600 U.S. 122 (2023)
• Daimler AG v. Bauman · 571 U.S. 117 (2014)
• Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
• J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro · 564 U.S. 873 (2011)
• Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg · 512 U.S. 415 (1994)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist. · 592 U.S. 351 (2021)
• Ankenbrandt Ex Rel. L. R. v. Richards · 504 U.S. 689 (1992)
• International Union, United Mine Workers v. Bagwell · 512 U.S. 821 (1994)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Tyler v. Cain · 533 U.S. 656 (2001)
• Bennis v. Michigan · 516 U.S. 442 (1996)
• Weiss v. United States · 510 U.S. 163 (1994)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).