Owens, et al. v. Okure (488 U.S. 235)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 10, 1989 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 488 U.S. 235 · 109 S. Ct. 573
- Decided
- January 10, 1989
- Term
- October Term 1988
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. In Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U. S. 261 (1985), we held that courts entertaining claims brought under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 should borrow the state statute of limitations for personal injury actions. This case raises the question of what limitations period should apply to a § 1983 action where a State has one or more statutes of limitations for certain enumerated intentional torts, and a residual statute for all other personal injury actions. We hold that the residual or general personal injury statute of limitations applies. I On November 13, 1985, respondent Tom U. U. Okure brought suit in the District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeking damages under §1983 from petitioners Javan Owens and Daniel G. Lessard, two State University of New York (SUNY) police officers. Okure alleged that, on January 27, 1984, the officers unlawfully arrested him on the SUNY campus in Albany and charged him with disorderly conduct. The complaint stated that Okure was “forcibly transported” to a police detention center, “battered and beaten by [the police officers] and forced to endure great emotional distress, physical harm, and embarrassment.” App. 5-6. As a result of the arrest and beating, Okure claimed, he “sustained personal injuries, including broken teeth and a sprained finger, mental anguish, shame, humiliation, legal expenses…
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