At the end of its last term, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered an important decision concerning the accrual of a §1983 fabrication of evidence claim. In McDonough v. Smith, 139 S. Ct. 2149 (2019), the court held that the statute of limitations on Edward McDonough’s claim that he was prosecuted based upon fabricated evidence did not accrue until he was acquitted of the criminal charges. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the court, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch, opined that because the plaintiff’s failure to specify which constitutional right he was relying upon “profoundly complicate[d]” the court’s inquiry, the court should have dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

Federal court §1983 actions present three major statute of limitations issues: (1) the limitations period; (2) tolling; and (3) accrual. A fourth issue is whether an amended §1983 complaint relates back to the filing of the original complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c). Because federal law does not provide a limitations period for §1983 claims, the Supreme Court held, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1988(a), that federal courts should apply the state’s general personal injury period. Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261 (1985). In New York that period is three years. Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989). Under Owens, this three-year period governs all §1983 actions filed in a federal court in New York.

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