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McGowan v. Gibson11/17/2000
Plaintiff's complaint alleges that defendants, employees of the Tennessee Department of Corrections at Brushy Mountain Prison, assaulted plaintiff, and that plaintiff was charged with disciplinary infractions in retaliation for his filing a grievance regarding the assault. These events took place in June of 1999, and the final grievance decision in defendants' favor, was made on August 2, 1999. The Complaint was filed on January 20, 2000, and defendant's Motion to Dismiss and for Summary Judgment was granted by the Trial Court on the grounds that the Complaint was barred by Tenn. Code Ann. §41-21-806, which states that a claim shall be dismissed if brought after thirty days from the date of the final decision of the grievance commission.
Plaintiff's Complaint seeks to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for violations of plaintiff's civil rights. These actions are governed by the personal injury statute of limitations of the state where the injury occurred, and in this State, the statute gives plaintiff one year within which to file his action. Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261 (1985); Berndt v. Tennessee, 796 F.2d 879 (6th Cir. 1986).
In 1996, the Tennessee Legislature enacted Tenn. Code Ann. §41-21-801 et seq., which deals with lawsuits filed by inmates, and imposes certain requirements upon those inmates who seek to file a lawsuit and claim inability to pay costs. The Trial Court, in dismissing the suit, relied upon Tenn. Code Ann. §41-21-806, which reads as follows:
(a) An inmate who files a claim that is subject to review by the grievance committee established by the department shall file with the court an affidavit stating the date that the grievance was filed and the date the final decision was received by the inmate with a copy of the final decision from the grievance committee.
(b) The court shall dismiss the claim if the inmate fails to file the claim before the thirty-first day after the date the inmate receives the final decision from the grievance committee.
(c) If a claim is filed before the grievance procedure is complete, the court shall stay the proceeding with respect to the claim for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days to permit completion of the grievance procedure. (Emphasis added).
Defendants argue that since plaintiff did not comply with the statute, his complaint is time-barred. However, plaintiff argues that the correct statute of limitations to be applied to his claim is the one year personal injury statute, and that his claim was filed well within that time frame.
In Wilson, the Supreme Court determined that one simple characterization of all §1983 claims would best serve the statute's remedial purpose, and that such characterization was a matter of federal and not state law. The Court further explained that "federal interests in uniformity, certainty, and the minimization of unnecessary litigation" support the conclusion that the appropriate statute of limitations to be applied for §1983 actions would be the general personal injury statute of the state where the claim arose. Id. at 279-280. One reason given for adopting this approach was that it minimized "the risk that the choice of a state statute of limitations would not fairly serve the federal interests vindicated by §1983" because the Court considered it "most unlikely that the period of limitations applicable to such claims ever was, or ever would be, fixed in a way that would discriminate against federal claims, or be inconsistent with federal law in any respect." Id. at 279.
As a result, courts have refused to apply state statutes which attempt to shorten this limitations period. In Duffy v. Massachusetts Dept. of
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