Court Opinion

ID: 9941949
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-20 01:00:51.451566+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:47:29.191826
License: Public Domain

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.

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