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McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90 (1917)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90 (1917)
McDonald v. Mabee No. 135 Submitted January 31, 1917 Decided March 6, 1917 243 U.S. 90
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF TEXAS
Syllabus
A person domiciled in Texas left the state intending to make his home elsewhere, his family residing there meanwhile. During his absence, an action for money was begun against him in a Texas court. After returning and remaining for a short time, he departed finally and established a domicile in another state. The only service in the action was by publication in a newspaper after his final departure. Based on this service, a personal judgment for money was rendered against him which was sustained under the laws of Texas by the supreme court of the state. Held that the judgment was absolutely void under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Quaere whether the judgment would have been good if a summons had been left at his last and usual place of abode in Texas while the family was in that state and before the new domicile was acquired?
An ordinary personal judgment for money, invalid for want of service amounting to due process of law, is as ineffective in the state of its rendition as it is elsewhere.
Since judgments are of reciprocal obligation, a judgment void if sued on by the plaintiff is void also when interposed by the defendant as a bar to the original cause of action.
175 S.W. 676, reversed.
The case is stated in the opinion.
Contents:
Chicago:
U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90 (1917) in 243 U.S. 90 Original Sources, accessed August 30, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=2KH554MNCJJZL5K.
MLA:
U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90 (1917), in 243 U.S. 90, Original Sources. 30 Aug. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=2KH554MNCJJZL5K.
Harvard:
U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in McDonald v. Mabee, 243 U.S. 90 (1917). cited in 1917, 243 U.S. 90. Original Sources, retrieved 30 August 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=2KH554MNCJJZL5K.
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