## Facts

- David H. Dixon taught carpentry at a Kentucky high school for 26 years and operated a photography studio with the school’s permission.
- In October 1995, Dixon photographed a student at his studio in images depicting her with no clothing above the waist (with nipples obscured by hair or a covering).
- In March 1996, the superintendent suspended Dixon and initiated termination proceedings for “conduct unbecoming a teacher” under Kentucky law, citing the photographs.
- A state administrative tribunal convened; the school board’s attorney prosecuted the case and introduced multiple sets of the photographs.
- The tribunal upheld Dixon’s termination for conduct unbecoming a teacher.
- Dixon pursued extended state administrative and judicial review, including hearings, appeals, and remands.
- Dixon claimed that some photographs used against him were fabricated and that officials and attorneys knowingly permitted their use.
- In 2005, Dixon filed a federal action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against a tribunal chair, the school board’s attorney, a state judge, an assistant attorney general, and two unnamed attorney-general-office employees, alleging due process violations tied to the use of the allegedly fabricated photographs.
- The district court dismissed the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) as barred by Kentucky’s one-year statute of limitations for § 1983 actions.

## Issues

1. Whether Kentucky’s one-year statute of limitations for personal-injury actions barred Dixon’s § 1983 claims.
2. When Dixon’s § 1983 claims accrued under federal law—i.e., when he knew or should have known of the alleged injury and the responsible parties.
3. Whether continuing violation, equitable tolling, or later events in state proceedings delayed accrual or restarted the limitations period.

## Decision

- The Sixth Circuit affirmed the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of all claims as time-barred.
- The court applied Kentucky’s one-year limitations period to the § 1983 claims.
- The court held that federal law governed accrual and that Dixon’s claims accrued more than one year before his 2005 filing because he knew of the alleged falsity and its use during the earlier proceedings.
- The court rejected arguments that later reliance on the photographs or later state proceedings constituted new, independently actionable violations; they were treated as continuing effects of an earlier alleged injury.
- The court found no basis for equitable tolling and did not reach the merits of whether use of fabricated evidence would violate due process.

## Legal Principles

- Section 1983 borrows the forum state’s statute of limitations for personal-injury actions (one year in Kentucky).
- Although the limitations period is supplied by state law, federal law determines accrual.
- A § 1983 claim accrues when the plaintiff has a complete cause of action and knew or should have known of the injury and the identity of the responsible parties.
- Continuing adverse consequences of an alleged past constitutional violation do not restart the limitations period; only a new, discrete constitutional injury can do so.
- Equitable tolling requires extraordinary circumstances; ongoing state litigation or a plaintiff’s litigation posture does not, without more, toll the statute.

## Conclusion

The Sixth Circuit held that Dixon’s § 1983 due process claims based on allegedly fabricated photographs were untimely because he knew of the alleged wrongdoing during the earlier proceedings, and later state-court activity did not restart the one-year limitations period, warranting dismissal without reaching the merits.


Dixon v. Clem, 492 F.3d 665 (6th Cir. 2007)