Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-1008_1b82.pdf
Page Number: 52

6 

CORNER POST, INC. v. BOARD OF GOVERNORS, FRS 

JACKSON, J., dissenting 

statutory text is the catchall limitations provision for suits
brought against the United States: §2401(a) of Title 28 of 
the United States Code.  All agree that there are two key
terms in that provision—“accrues” and “the right of action.” 
Ibid.  The majority misreads both.  Contrary to the Court’s 
rigid reading, the word “accrues” lacks any fixed meaning. 
See Crown Coat, 386 U. S., at 517.  Instead, the meaning of
accrue for the purpose of a statute of limitations is deter-
mined by the particular “right of action” at issue.  For many
kinds of legal claims, accrual is plaintiff specific because the 
claims themselves are plaintiff specific.  But facial admin-
istrative-law  claims  are  not.  This  means  that,  in  the  ad-
ministrative-law context, the limitations period begins not
when a plaintiff is injured, but when a rule is finalized. 

A 

When sovereign immunity has been waived, the Federal 
Government is often sued, and Congress has enacted stat-
utes of limitations to ensure that those lawsuits are brought 
in a timely fashion.  Because such suits arise in different 
contexts, Congress has enacted different statutes of limita-
tions for different types of suits. 

Most statutes of limitations are context specific.  For ex-
ample, a tort claim against the United States typically must 
be brought “within two years after such claim accrues.” 28
U. S. C. §2401(b).  By contrast, a party challenging certain
administrative orders must seek review “within 60 days af-
ter [the order’s] entry.”  §2344.  Many more examples of con-
text-specific limitations periods in the U. S. Code abound. 
See, e.g., §2501 (claims over which the United States Court 
of Federal Claims has jurisdiction must be brought within 
six  years);  33  U. S. C.  §1369(b)(1)  (challenges  to  certain 
standards  adopted  by  the  Environmental  Protection 
Agency under the Clean Water Act must commence “within 
120 days from the date of . . . promulgation”).