Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-1008_1b82.pdf
Page Number: 15.0

10 

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

Opinion of the Court 

legislatively  determined  period  of  time.”  CTS  Corp.,  573 
U. S.,  at  8–9  (internal  quotation  marks  omitted).3    The  
Board  asks  us  to  interpret  §2401(a)  as  a  defendant- 
protective statute of repose that begins to run when agency 
action becomes final.  But §2401(a)’s plaintiff-focused lan-
guage makes it an accrual-based statute of limitations. 

* 

* 

* 

Section 2401(a) embodies the plaintiff-centric traditional 
rule that a statute of limitations begins to run only when
the plaintiff has a complete and present cause of action.  Be-
cause injury, not just finality, is required to sue under the 
APA,  Corner  Post’s  cause  of  action  was  not  complete  and
present until it was injured by Regulation II.  Therefore, its 
suit is not barred by the statute of limitations. 

IV 
The Board concedes that some claims accrue for purposes
of §2401(a) when the plaintiff has a complete and present 
cause of action—in other words, it admits that “accrue” car-
ries its usual meaning for some claims.  But it argues that 
facial  challenges  to  agency  rules  are  different,  accruing 
when agency action is final rather than when the plaintiff 
can  assert  her  claim.  See  also  post,  at  5–6  (JACKSON,  J., 
dissenting).  The Board raises several arguments to support 
its position, but none work. 

A 

The  Board  puts  the  most  weight  on  the  many  specific 
statutory review provisions that start the clock at finality.
See  also  post,  at  12–15  (JACKSON,  J.,  dissenting).  The 

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3 Perplexingly, the dissent rejects this distinction, post, at 10–11, even 
though our precedent clearly recognizes it: CTS Corp. acknowledged the
“substantial overlap between the policies of the two types of statute” but 
concluded nonetheless that “each has a distinct purpose and each is tar-
geted at a different actor.”  573 U. S., at 8.