Jackson v. Ware Youth Center

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: February 19, 2024
• Docket: 23-30348
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Case: 23-30348 Document: 78-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/19/2024

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED February 19, 2024 No. 23-30348 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Ladarian Kordell Jackson,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Ware Youth Center; Darqwiez Murphy; Raymond Lloyd,

Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 5:19-CV-257 ______________________________

Before Stewart, Clement, and Ho, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * Plaintiff Ladarian Jackson was a sixteen-year-old minor incarcerated at Ware Youth Center, a juvenile detention facility. A few days after his commitment, Plaintiff was allegedly abused by a Ware Youth Center employee and suffered injuries to his forehead and eyes. But Plaintiff did not file his § 1983 lawsuit against the Center and the involved employees until

_____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 23-30348 Document: 78-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/19/2024

No. 23-30348

three years after the incident. Under Supreme Court precedent, we find that these claims have prescribed. Accordingly, we affirm. For § 1983 actions, federal courts borrow the forum state’s statute of limitations for personal injury actions. Gartrell v. Gaylor, 981 F.2d 254, 256 (5th Cir. 1993). And “where state law provides multiple statutes of limitations for personal injury actions, courts considering § 1983 claims should borrow the general or residual statute for personal injury actions.” Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235, 249−50 (1989). In Louisiana, the general prescriptive period for personal injury actions is one year from the date of damage or injury. La. Civ. Code Ann. art. 3492. Here, Plaintiff argues that the district court erred in applying the general statute of limitations to his claim. Instead, he claims that his action warrants a three-year prescriptive period pursuant to Louisiana Civil Code art. 3496.1, which applies to actions against a person for abuse of a minor. Under this statute, “[a]n action against a person for abuse of a minor is subject to a liberative prescriptive period of three years . . . [that] commences to run from the day the minor attains majority.” La. Civ. Code Ann. art. 3496.1. For § 1983 claims, Owens instructs us to apply the one-year general statute of limitations for personal injury actions. This principle mitigates confusion, as states often have several statutes of limitations for personal injury actions, but only one general or residual statute of limitations for personal injury actions. Owens, 488 U.S. at 245−48. Plaintiff filed his complaint nearly three years after the injury occurred, and nearly two years after he achieved the age of majority. The prescriptive period has expired. For this reason, we affirm.