老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana Responds to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision in Brown v. Pouncy
The court upheld Louisiana鈥檚 outlier statute of limitations, holding that Louisianians who are victims of unconstitutional conduct have only one year to file a federal civil rights lawsuit
NEW ORLEANS 鈥擳he 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana has released the following statement after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court鈥檚 decision to dismiss a brought against DeSoto Parish Sheriff鈥檚 Office deputies by 鈥攁 Black man who was unlawfully beaten by officers who were later criminally charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for their actions.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana had dismissed Mr. Brown鈥檚 action against Defendants Javarrea Pouncy, John Doe #1, and John Doe #2 as time-barred under Louisiana鈥檚 one-year residual statute of limitations. On appeal, Mr. Brown argued that the District Court erred in applying this one-year limitation to his Section 1983 claim.
The Fifth Circuit agreed with the lower court, dismissing Mr. Brown鈥檚 lawsuit. The court did not foreclose a solution to this enduring problem for Louisiana, stating in its decision that only the U.S. Supreme Court 鈥渃an clarify how lower courts should evaluate practical frustration鈥� of a victim鈥檚 Section 1983 claim.
鈥淚t is shameful that victims of civil rights violations have no practical recourse against their abusers under civil rights laws that would apply differently had they been a citizen of any state other than Louisiana, Tennessee or Kentucky. The 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana will continue to challenge the one-year statute of limitations and plans on taking this very issue up to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The court points out that the Louisiana Legislature is free to act and extend its one-year statute of limitations鈥攁nd it should. But Congress is also free to solve this problem by creating a uniform statute of limitations for Section 1983 claims, such that all victims of civil rights abuses, regardless of location, will have sufficient time to seek redress in federal court. Therefore, while we will continue to fight this issue in the courts, we call on the Louisiana Legislature and Congress to act now.鈥�
Both deputies involved in the incident were , and one, Demarkes Grant, pled guilty - the sentencing for which has been scheduled for March 28, 2024 at 2:30 PM in the in Shreveport, Louisiana.
View from the Fifth Circuit Court.
View a recent op-ed by the 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana鈥檚 legal director, Nora Ahmed:
View the full statement on the 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana鈥檚 website: