Kulko v. Superior Court of California in and for the City and County of San Francisco (horn, Real Party in Interest)

Decided May 15, 1978. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-293 · 436 U.S. 84 (1978) · Cited 1,640 times

Holding

The exercise of in personam jurisdiction by the California courts over appellant, a New York domiciliary, would violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“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.

• Hanson v. Denckla · 357 U.S. 235 (1958)
• International Shoe Co. v. Washington · 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
• May v. Anderson · 345 U.S. 528 (1953)
• Shaffer v. Heitner · 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
• McGee v. International Life Insurance · 355 U.S. 220 (1957)
• Milliken v. Meyer · 311 U.S. 457 (1941)
• Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. · 339 U.S. 306 (1950)
• Sosna v. Iowa · 419 U.S. 393 (1975)
• Perkins v. Benguet Consolidated Mining Co. · 342 U.S. 437 (1952)
• Hess v. Pawloski · 274 U.S. 352 (1927)
• Estin v. Estin · 334 U.S. 541 (1948)
• New York Ex Rel. Halvey v. Halvey · 330 U.S. 610 (1947)

Cited by

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

• World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson · 444 U.S. 286 (1980)
• Burger King Corp. v. Rudzewicz · 471 U.S. 462 (1985)
• Calder v. Jones · 465 U.S. 783 (1984)
• Helicopteros Nacionales De Colombia, S. A. v. Hall · 466 U.S. 408 (1984)
• Walden v. Fiore · 571 U.S. 277 (2014)
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of Cal., San Francisco Cty. · 582 U.S. 255 (2017)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Rush v. Savchuk · 444 U.S. 320 (1980)
• Allstate Insurance v. Hague · 449 U.S. 302 (1981)
• Addington v. Texas · 441 U.S. 418 (1979)
• Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin · 495 U.S. 604 (1990)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
• Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Moore · 487 U.S. 354 (1988)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1978). 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).