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Pennoyer v. Neff

Supreme Court of the United States · 1877 · Civil Procedure

personal jurisdictionterritorial theorydue processin remin personamsubstituted serviceservice by publicationnonresident defendant

Facts

An Oregon statute allowed a suit against a nonresident to begin by publication for at least six weeks in a local newspaper, and it also required mailing a copy of the summons to the defendant's residence unless the residence was unknown and could not be ascertained. Under that statute, Mitchell obtained a judgment against Neff in the Circuit Court of Multnomah County after serving Neff by publication. Land owned by Neff in Multnomah County was then sold on execution, and Pennoyer purchased it. The dispute concerns whether that judgment validly supported the sale of Oregon land owned by the absent defendant.

Issue

May a state, consistently with due process, authorize a judgment against a nonresident served by publication alone that permits sale on execution of the defendant's land located within the state? More specifically, does the Constitution require a preliminary attachment or seizure of the property at the commencement of the suit before the land may be subjected to the judgment?

Rule

A sovereign state has power over real and personal property actually within its limits and may subject that property to payment of debts justly due to its citizens, even when the owner is a nonresident who cannot be personally served. Personal notice is not indispensable if the legislature provides substituted service reasonably likely and in good faith designed to inform the defendant and affords an opportunity to defend. The Constitution does not make a preliminary attachment of the property a prerequisite; whether seizure occurs at the beginning of the suit or only on execution is a matter of municipal regulation.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Lena Ortiz, a resident of Arizona, owns an undeveloped parcel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A New Mexico statute allows a local creditor to sue a nonresident by publishing notice in a Santa Fe newspaper for six weeks and mailing the summons to the defendant's known home address, then to execute on the New Mexico land after judgment.

Under the opinion provided, which fact most strongly supports the constitutionality of the eventual sale of Lena's land?

Explanation. The opinion treats the decisive constitutional fact as the state's sovereign power over real and personal property actually within its territorial limits. If property is within the state, the state may subject it to debts due its citizens through substituted service reasonably designed to give notice. The county of publication, nonappearance, and size of the debt do not supply the constitutional basis.