Dixon v. Chrans, 91-2998

• Decision Date: 29 July 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-2998,91-2998
• Citation: 986 F.2d 201
• Parties: Anthony DIXON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James A. CHRANS, Dick Irving, S. Jordan, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 201

986 F.2d 201

Anthony DIXON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. James A. CHRANS, Dick Irving, S. Jordan, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-2998.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 2, 1993.

Decided Feb. 18, 1993.

Rehearing Denied July 29, 1993.

Lindsay P. Reichmann (argued), Richard B. Kapnick, Sidley & Austin, Chicago, IL, for plaintiff-appellant.

Brian F. Barov (argued), Office of Atty. Gen., Criminal Appeals Div., Tanya Solov, Office of Atty. Gen., Civil Appeals Div., Chicago, IL, for defendants-appellees.

Before CUMMINGS and FLAUM, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge.

ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal by Anthony Dixon from the sua sponte dismissal of his civil rights suit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against officials of the Pontiac Correctional Center. We must decide whether the district court erred in applying an exception to an Illinois rule tolling the statute of limitations governing Dixon's suit. Because we conclude that the tolling exception that the district court applied is inconsistent with the purposes of § 1983, we reverse the dismissal of Dixon's complaint and remand for further proceedings.

I.

After a hearing on October 22, 1987, Pontiac's prison adjustment committee concluded that Dixon was involved in the murder of a prison guard. The committee revoked 360 days of his good time credit, gave him 360 days of segregation, and demoted him to "C" grade for 360 days.

After an early, abortive attempt to bring suit against officials of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) in 1987, Dixon eventually filed suit in February of 1991 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on the committee's actions. Dixon moved under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 for appointment of counsel. The district court issued an order in which it sua sponte raised the statute of limitations. The court noted that, under Illinois law, imprisonment was once considered a legal disability which tolled the limitations period, but that disability was removed for persons imprisoned on a criminal charge with respect to claims against IDOC or its employees. The court ordered that Dixon show cause why his complaint should not be dismissed as time-barred, and it denied Dixon's motion for appointment of counsel. Dixon responded with two arguments, neither of which he raises on appeal. The district court was unpersuaded and dismissed the complaint as barred by the statute of limitations. Dixon appealed, and we appointed counsel.

II.

Dixon argues on appeal that the district court should not have relied on Illinois' special tolling rule for actions against IDOC officials. He further contends that this special tolling rule is inconsistent with the purposes of § 1983 and thus pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 cannot be applied to his suit. Finally, Dixon maintains that the district court erred by raising the statute of limitations sua sponte. The defendants dispute the merits of each of these arguments. They also claim that Dixon waived these arguments by not presenting them to the district court.

A. Did Dixon Waive Arguments not Presented to the District Court?

Arguments not presented to the district court are generally waived on appeal. House v. Belford, 956 F.2d 711, 720 (7th Cir.1992). We have not routinely spared pro se litigants from the same waiver rules attorneys face. See, e.g., Wilson v. Giesen, 956 F.2d 738, 741 (7th Cir.1992) (pro se appellant's argument waived when raised for the first time in reply brief). However, this appeal comes to us in the special procedural posture of a sua sponte dismissal under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). ¹ Thus, we review this dismissal "not only to determine whether the arguments the plaintiff made were valid, but also to determine whether the plaintiff could have made 'any rational argument in law or fact to support his claim for relief.' " Belford, 956 F.2d at 720 (citation omitted). Because of this unique standard of review, we will proceed to consider the arguments Dixon presents on appeal. Id.

B. Was Dixon's Complaint Timely?

Congress has provided no specific statute of limitations for § 1983 actions. Instead, Congress has decreed that state statutes of limitations will apply in § 1983 actions unless the state laws are inconsistent with federal law. 42 U.S.C. § 1988. ² Of course, states often have different statutes of limitations for different types of actions; the Supreme Court has held that for the purposes of selecting a statute of limitations, § 1983 actions are best characterized as personal injury actions. Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). When a state has several potentially applicable statutes of limitations relating to personal injury actions, the one that governs a § 1983 case is "the general or residual statute for personal injury actions." Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235, 250, 109 S.Ct. 573, 582, 102 L.Ed.2d 594 (1989). If a question of tolling arises, it is state law that governs. Hardin v. Straub, 490 U.S. 536, 539, 109 S.Ct. 1998, 2000, 104 L.Ed.2d 582 (1989); Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 485-86, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 1795-96, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980).

1. Which State Limitations Rules Apply?

Dixon brought this action in the Central District of Illinois, so Illinois law provides the statute of limitations and any relevant tolling rules. There is no disagreement over which statute of limitations applies. We have already determined that § 1983 cases arising in Illinois are governed by Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110, p 13-202, which provides two years in which to file suit. Giesen, 956 F.2d at 741. The question is whether the running of this statute was tolled.

To determine this, we must trace the history of the one potentially relevant tolling rule. Until 1987, Illinois law treated imprisonment as a legal disability that tolled the statute of limitations while the plaintiff was still in prison. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110, p 13-211 (1987). The Illinois legislature established an exception to this tolling rule in 1987 for claims by prisoners that were directed against IDOC or its employees. Act of Nov. 23, 1987, Pub. Act 85-907, art. II, sec. 1, p 13-211, 1987 Ill. Laws 3832. After this amendment ("the 1987 amendment"), p 13-211 provided in part that if a person bringing an action

(iii) is imprisoned on a criminal charge and the claim is not against the Illinois Department of Corrections or any past or present employee or official of the Department of Corrections, then he or she may bring the action within two years after ... (iii) the person ceases to be imprisoned.

It was this amended version of p 13-211 that was in effect at the time of Dixon's hearing before the adjustment committee. ³ The district court applied the amended version of p 13-211, determined that the statute of limitations was not tolled for Dixon's action, and concluded that his 1991 complaint was filed late.

Dixon argues that the district court erred by applying the wrong tolling rule to his cause of action. To be specific, Dixon does not contend that the pre-1987 version of p 13-211 should have been applied; rather, he argues that "[t]he 1987 Illinois statute amending Section 13-211 established two sets of tolling rules: one for actions against IDOC officials, and one for all other specified actions." He argues that the district court "erroneously characterized his Section 1983 claim as an action against IDOC officials, not as a general personal injury action." This characterization, he claims, violated Garcia, Owens and Hardin.

We have difficulty with Dixon's position. In our view, the 1987 amendment did not create two sets of tolling rules for prisoners; rather, it simply modified the one existing tolling rule for prisoners so that actions against IDOC officials would no longer be tolled. This is perhaps why although Dixon objects to the district court's literal application of p 13-211(iii), he fails to identify specifically what tolling rule the court should have applied. True, he suggests that the court should have applied Illinois' tolling rules for general personal injury actions. However, Illinois has no tolling rule designed specifically for general personal injury claims.

We also disagree with Dixon's position that Supreme Court precedent absolutely forbids a court from characterizing a suit as one against public officials when deciding which tolling rule to apply. None of the cases cited to us mandates such a result. Garcia comes closest, but the issue there was how a § 1983 suit should be characterized for the purpose of choosing a statute of limitations, not a tolling rule. Of course, if a state had one tolling provision for general personal injury actions and one for suits against public officials, then Dixon is probably right that a court would have to characterize a § 1983 suit as a general personal injury claim rather than a claim against public officials, Hardin, 490 U.S. at 539, 109 S.Ct. at 2000, but that situation does not exist here. Without a tolling provision for general personal injury actions, the process of deciding which state tolling rule to apply involves the straightforward application of the rules as written. To proceed otherwise, for example to apply p 13-211 yet ignore the fact that Dixon's suit is one against public officials, would unravel, if not dissect, the state's limitations rules. The Supreme Court has admonished lower courts not to do this--unless fully applying those rules would defeat the goals of the federal statute at issue, id., a question to which we now turn.

2. Is Illinois' Exception to Tolling for Prisoner Suits Against IDOC Officials Inconsistent with Federal Law?

We cannot give effect to the 1987 amendment, which creates an exception to tolling for prisoner suits against IDOC officials, if it is "inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States." 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Although we have applied the 1987 amendment to prisoners' § 1983 suits in two previous cases, neither...