Opinion ID: 491631
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: APPLICABILITY OF Sec. 2401(a) TO FOIA

Text: 9 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2401(a) provides, in relevant part: 10 every civil action commenced against the United States shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action first accrues. 11 The law of this circuit is clear: the words every civil action mean what they say. While a negative-pregnant dictum in a decade-old case weakly suggested a possible exception for exclusively equitable claims, see Saffron v. Department of the Navy, 561 F.2d 938, 944 (D.C.Cir.1977) (where remediation does not lie exclusively within the domain of equity, the availability of legal relief ... summons the statute of limitations into play as to the whole) (emphasis added), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1033, 98 S.Ct. 765, 54 L.Ed.2d 780 (1978), this court's subsequent opinions clarify beyond dispute that Sec. 2401(a) applies to all civil actions whether legal, equitable or mixed. See, e.g., Calhoun v. Lehman, 725 F.2d 115, 116, 117 (D.C.Cir.1983); Walters v. Secretary of Defense, 725 F.2d 107, 111-14 (D.C.Cir.1983), reh'g denied, 737 F.2d 1038 (D.C.Cir.1984) (en banc) (per curiam); Impro Products, Inc. v. Block, 722 F.2d 845, 849-50 & n.8 (D.C.Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 931, 105 S.Ct. 327, 83 L.Ed.2d 264 (1984); Gull Airborne Instruments, Inc. v. Weinberger, 694 F.2d 838, 844 & n.6 (D.C.Cir.1982); White v. Civil Service Commission, 589 F.2d 713, 715 (D.C.Cir.1978) (per curiam), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 830, 100 S.Ct. 58, 62 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979); Oppenheim v. Campbell, 571 F.2d 660, 662 (D.C.Cir.1978). We have recognized an exception only for a narrow class of actions--most notably habeas corpus--[that] have always been regarded as outside the scope of the statute of limitations. Walters, 725 F.2d at 113 (citation omitted). Appellant suggests that this long line of circuit authority is at variance with [pre-Saffron ] Supreme Court precedent and should be disregarded, Brief for Appellant at 19, but until action by the Supreme Court or an en banc panel of this court supervenes, we must adhere to the law of the circuit. 12 Appellant next suggests a couple of policy reasons to engraft into Sec. 2401(a)'s categorical language a special FOIA exception. First, he argues that it would be absurd to impute to Congress the intention to apply a statute of limitations to a cause of action that a party can resuscitate at will simply by resubmitting a FOIA request. Second, he argues that application of the statute of limitations would encourage litigation and discourage resort to permissive administrative appeals, thereby contraven[ing] the spirit, thrust and purpose of the Act. Brief for Appellant at 16. 13 Unlike an ordinary statute of limitations, Sec. 2401(a) is a jurisdictional condition attached to the government's waiver of sovereign immunity, and as such must be strictly construed. See United States v. Mottaz, 476 U.S. 834, 106 S.Ct. 2224, 2229, 90 L.Ed.2d 841 (1986); Soriano v. United States, 352 U.S. 270, 276, 77 S.Ct. 269, 273, 1 L.Ed.2d 306 (1957). Where clear language restricts our jurisdiction, we may not overturn it merely by invoking spirits and thrusts. 14 Appellant's policy arguments are, at any rate, unpersuasive. Applying a statute of limitations to FOIA claims leaves agencies free after a reasonable period to dispose of denied FOIA requests that have never been disputed in court. The alternative, which would compel agencies to retain their files on such requests indefinitely, imposes significant burdens but offers a prospect of only rarely contributing to the sum of human happiness. 2 15 Nor does application of the statute of limitations encourage litigation or discourage resort to permissive administrative appeals. As we discuss below, FOIA permits requesters to file suit shortly after they file their requests or administratively appeal their denial. But that does not mean that they will immediately scramble to the courthouse to avoid running afoul of the six-year limitations period. Six years is a long time, ample time within which to pursue an administrative appeal to completion or, in instances of agency delay, to invoke the aid of the court. 16 In short, we see no reason to inject an exception for FOIA claims into Sec. 2401(a)'s reference to every civil action.