Jennie V. Wright, et al. v. Louisville Metro Government, et al.

Although Congress enacted 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to hold state actors accountable for violating federal civil rights, the application of inconsistent and unreasonably short state statutes of limitations has impeded access to this important federal remedy. This petition presents the Court an opportunity to revisit the current fifty-state borrowing framework in light of Congress’s enactment of a federal catchall statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a). Section 1658(a) now provides a “suitable” federal rule of decision that did not exist when this Court last addressed the appropriate limitations period for Section 1983 claims. This petition also enables the Court to decide the question it expressly reserved in Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989): whether a one-year state limitations period is inconsistent with the federal interests underlying Section 1983. The questions presented are:

1. Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a)’s uniform residual limitations period provides a “suitable” federal rule to govern federal claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

2. Whether Kentucky’s one-year residual personal injury statute of limitations is too short to be consistent with the federal interests underpinning Section 1983.