Hamilton v. City of Overland Park, Kan., 83-1593
| Decision Date | 30 March 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-1593,83-1593 |
| Citation | 730 F.2d 613 |
| Parties | Kenneth W. HAMILTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS; The City of Kansas City, Kansas; Norman Justice; and W. Bozarts, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
J.R. Russell of Kansas City, Kan., for plaintiff-appellant.
Kathryn Pruessner Peters, Asst. City Atty., Kansas City, Kan., and Neil R. Shortlidge, First Asst. City Atty., Overland Park, Kan., for defendants-appellees.
Before SETH, Chief Judge, and HOLLOWAY, McWILLIAMS, BARRETT, DOYLE, McKAY, LOGAN and SEYMOUR, Circuit Judges.
This action was brought by Kenneth Hamilton against the City of Overland Park, the City of Kansas City, and two Kansas City municipal employees. Hamilton alleged that he was wrongfully arrested, and sought damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1976) for denial of his constitutional rights to liberty and due process. He also asserted pendent state law claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and outrageous conduct. The district court dismissed the action on the pleadings, concluding that the section 1983 claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations, and that the court therefore lacked pendent jurisdiction over the state law claims. We reverse.
The arrest giving rise to Hamilton's suit occurred on October 12, 1981. Hamilton filed his complaint on November 3, 1982, a little over one year later. In concluding that the civil rights claims were time-barred, the district court applied the one-year limitations period provided by Kan.Stat.Ann. Sec. 60-514(2) (1976), which governs "[a]n action for assault, battery, malicious prosecution, or false imprisonment."
Because Congress has not enacted a statute of limitations expressly applicable to section 1983 claims, the court must adopt the most analogous limitations period provided by state law. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 (1976); Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 483-84, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 1794-95, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980). In Garcia v. Wilson, 731 F.2d 640, (10th Cir.1984) (en banc), decided this day, we considered the method by which an appropriate state statute is to be selected for section 1983 actions. We concluded as a matter of federal law that all section 1983 claims should be characterized as actions for injury to the rights of another. See id. at ---- - ----. Under Kan.Stat.Ann. Sec. 60-513(a)(4) (1976), "[a]n action for injury to the rights of another, not...
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Wilson v. Garcia
...entire Tenth Circuit. Kansas law conveniently supplied a 2-year statute for "injury to the rights of another," see Hamilton v. City of Overland Park, 730 F.2d 613 (CA10 1984); but Utah law contained no such provision, see Mismash v. Murray City, 730 F.2d 1366 (1984) (selecting Utah's 4-year......
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... ... Plaintiff was detained by city of Burnsville police July 2, 1982. Plaintiff, ... See Hamilton v. City of Overland Park, 730 F.2d 613 ... ...
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...act, neglect or default) or N.J.S.A. 2A:14-3 (libel or slander). See N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 (emphasis added). Cf. Hamilton v. City of Overland Park, 730 F.2d 613, 614 (10th Cir.1984) (applying Kansas statute of limitations for "action for injury to the rights of another" to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim......
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