Abstract
One of the few tools available to citizens to directly challenge the actions of the government or a government official is the Civil Rights Act of 1871, currently codified as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("section 1983"). Section 1983 provides a means for individuals to maintain civil actions against persons who, acting under the color of state law, deprive them of rights enumerated in the Constitution. Although Congress provided this broad remedy for citizens to enforce their constitutional rights, it failed to provide a statute of limitations. The result has been widespread "conflict, confusion, and uncertainty concerning the appropriate statute of limitations to apply to this most important, and ubiquitous, civil rights statute." To remedy such confusion, the state of Utah took a practical approach and passed a statute that applied only to section 1983 and subjected all actions brought under the statute to a two-year time limit. However, in Arnold v. Duchesne County, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Utah statute. The court held instead that the residual four-year statute of limitations was applicable.
Recommended Citation
Roberts, Brian F.
(1995)
"Arnold v. Duchesne County and Section
1983 Statutes of Limitations: Seeing
the Forest Through the Trees,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1995:
No.
2, Article 15.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1995/iss2/15