Felder v. Casey

It cannot be disputed that, if Congress had included a statute of limitations in 42 U. S. C. § 1983, any state court that entertained a § 1983 suit would have to apply that statute of limitations. As the Court observed in an early case brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act of 1908, 35 Stat. 65, 45 U. S. C. § 51 et seq., “[i]f [a federal Act] be available in a state court to found a right, and the record shows a lapse of *154time after which the [A]ct says that no action shall be maintained, the action must fail in the courts of a State as in those of the United States.” Atlantic…