The amount of time you have to sue the police shouldn’t depend on where you live

Federal prosecutors say that on Sept. 17, 2019, Javarrea Pouncy and DeMarkes Grant, then corrections officers in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, brutally beat Jarius Brown as he was being booked into jail on suspicion of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a nonviolent offense. Last month, Grant agreed to a plea deal with the federal government, and a federal grand jury charged Pouncy with civil rights violations that include willfully using unreasonable force against a detained person, failing to obtain medical care for him and obstructing justice.

But despite one officer’s indictment and the other’s guilty plea, Brown is being denied the opportunity to seek damages for the harm he suffered in that attack.

Why? Because, in Louisiana, under a federal district court’s interpretation of the federal civil rights statute, a person intending to file a federal civil rights case against law enforcement has only one year from the date of an incident to do so — even in circumstances like this one, where it took the United States government nearly quadruple that amount of time to bring a criminal case premised on the same set of facts.

Inexplicably, the statute of limitations for bringing a federal civil rights lawsuit varies by state. If  Brown lived in, say, Maine, then he’d have six years to contest unconstitutional policing. Why should he be treated differently because he happens to live in one of three states (Kentucky and Tennessee are the others) that gives potential plaintiffs like him one year to file such a suit?

Fear of retaliation induced by the physical and psychological trauma from his beating is one of myriad reasons it took Brown over a year to file suit. By the time he did in 2021, it was too late, according to a federal court.

One year — especially if the case does not get lots of media attention or the victim is poor or otherwise marginalized — is simply not enough time to find a lawyer and file a constitutional case. And this is especially true when the victim rightly fears that filing a civil rights case could adversely affect the outcome of a criminal trial.

Attorneys for Brown pleaded his case before the U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals two weeks ago, and the panel of judges seemed to understand the nationwide importance of the issue. But even if the court agrees with Brown that he should have been given more time to file a lawsuit, its ruling would be limited in scope to Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana (where the court has jurisdiction) and would not address the reality that Tennessee and Kentucky have similar limits. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely need to get involved to resolve the issue. But Congress also has the power to act.

Lawmakers should set aside the current patchwork regime and amend the law that provides people with the right to sue law enforcement, called Section 1983, which does not currently include a statute of limitations. Or, they could amend Section 1658, the blanket four-year statute of limitations that applies to “actions arising under an act of Congress,” to more explicitly include Section 1983.

Since George Floyd was murdered in May 2020, there’s been a lot written about Congress’ regrettable failure to pass comprehensive law enforcement reform legislation. While such reform legislation is still needed, legislation related to the statute of limitations ought to be a much lighter lift. A simple clarification from Congress that it never intended such an illogical result would ensure that every person, regardless of where they live, has an equal amount of time to file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Bringing parity to the statute of limitations across the country may seem like a relatively small change, but it would have far-reaching benefits for families and communities.

Over 400 Louisianans (most with stories similar to Brown’s) have reported being subjected to unconstitutional policing and brutality. Yet, in many cases, the incident occurred more than a year ago, and they have been left unable to sue law enforcement for the harms they suffered.

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Making it easier for everyone in every state to bring unconstitutional policing cases would help reform the culture of impunity that has fueled a nationwide epidemic of police violence for centuries. A longer statute of limitations would also provide a stronger incentive for law enforcement agencies and their insurers to prevent such abuses by adopting practices that include better hiring, investigating citizen complaints more thoroughly and imposing stricter penalties, including decertification, on officers who engage in unconstitutional conduct.

Congress has an opportunity to right a wrong that has persisted in the Deep South for too long. Every citizen deserves the same amount of time to seek accountability for unconstitutional police misconduct.

We entrust law enforcement officers with tremendous power. When that power is abused and our rights are violated, those responsible must be held accountable. We must be allowed adequate time to process, heal and make our voices heard. A modest and practical adjustment to the law would ensure equitable access to the vindication of civil rights for all.