Plaintiff-Appellee seeks the disclosure of materials related to law enforcement’s actions surrounding a police shooting death under the Public Records Law. The specific disclosures Plaintiff-Appellee seeks bear a direct relation to the perceived legitimacy of the investigation surrounding the death and, ultimately, to the transparency and trust that lie at the heart of the Public Records Law and its recent amendments.
This brief argues that the one-year statute of limitations Louisiana applies to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("§ 1983") claims against law enforcement officers is inconsistent with the federal policy underlying §1983 claims. The time-consuming practical and trauma-related challenges individuals experience when attempting to bring a § 1983 action in federal courts in Louisiana is antithetical to the federal policy underlying that statute.
This brief argues that application of Louisiana's one-year statute of limitations for § 1983 actions presents significant challenges that are specific to victims of police violence, resulting in an inability to obtain redress for civil rights violations and a perpetuation of police misconduct. Such application is inconsistent with the federal policy underlying § 1983 claims, which is to provide a federal remedy in federal court for violations of an individual's civil rights.