Claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state statute of limitations applicable to claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
A plaintiff filed a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 2000d, which the district court dismissed as time-barred. The court considered whether the one-year California statute of limitations for personal injury actions applies to claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. Following the reasoning of other circuit courts, the court holds that claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state limitations period applicable to claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Because the claims accrued more than one year before the complaint was filed, the dismissal is affirmed. Additionally, the court finds that a judge's prior adverse ruling does not constitute judicial bias from an extrajudicial source sufficient to warrant recusal.
At page 712 Standard for judicial impartiality and recusal84 citing casesTo warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.
- Holthaus v. Washington Dep't of Corr., No. 3:25-cv-05257 (W.D. Wash. July 31, 2025). (To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 16 extrajudicial source.)
- Ferguson v. Waid, No. 2:17-cv-01685 (W.D. Wash. June 10, 2025).([t]o warrant 1 2 recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Anotta v. Oregon Dep't of Env't Quality, No. 3:22-cv-00953 (D. Or. Mar. 18, 2025).([C]laims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state limitations period applicable to claims brought under § 1983.)
- Ezell v. McCann, No. 2:23-cv-00729 (W.D. Wash. July 6, 2023).([t]o warrant 9 recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Sahm v. Ali, No. 2:22-cv-01131 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 28, 2022).(To warrant recusal, 1 2 judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Sam v. Renton Sch. Dist., No. 2:21-cv-01363 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 2, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Zhang v. United States of Am., No. 2:19-cv-01211 (W.D. Wash. May 25, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Pond v. Doe, No. 3:21-cv-05339 (W.D. Wash. May 20, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 7 extrajudicial source.)
- Smith v. Legacy Partners Inc, No. 2:21-cv-00629 (W.D. Wash. May 6, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Pond v. Doe, No. 3:21-cv-05339 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 26, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
Show 74 more citing cases
- Chang v. Vanderwielen, No. 2:22-cv-00013 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 19, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 9 extrajudicial source.)
- Stafne v. Burnside, No. 2:16-cv-00753 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 4, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Fkadu v. Tesfay, No. 2:21-cv-00318 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 24, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Green v. United States, No. 2:21-cv-01276 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 10, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Ketschau v. United States, No. 3:21-cv-05757 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 3, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Green v. Dep't of Vets. Affairs, No. 3:20-cv-05249 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 25, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Hayes v. Blakeman, No. 2:20-cv-01612 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 10, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 14 extrajudicial source.)
- Jovee v. Snohomish Cnty., No. 2:21-cv-01590 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 7, 2022).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Dixon v. Ennis, No. 2:21-cv-01171 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 2, 2021). (To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Silver v. Dystrup-Chiang, No. 2:20-cv-01339 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 15, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. Miller, No. 3:21-cv-05539 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 27, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Wells v. United States, No. 2:21-cv-00602 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 26, 2021).(To 23 warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. United States, No. 3:21-cv-05225 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 17, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. United States Prob. & Pretrial Servs., No. 3:21-cv-05269 (W.D. Wash. July 9, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 10 extrajudicial source.)
- Urban League Vill. LLC v. Tahir-Garrett, No. 2:21-cv-00536 (W.D. Wash. June 21, 2021). (To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Spice v. DuBois, No. 2:21-cv-00385 (W.D. Wash. June 14, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 6 extrajudicial source.)
- Brown v. United States, No. 2:21-cv-00246 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 19, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Brown v. United States, No. 2:21-cv-00287 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 19, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 10 extrajudicial source.)
- Telford v. Walgreens, No. 3:21-cv-05094 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 12, 2021).(To warrant recusal, 10 judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Flarity v. Prather, No. 3:20-cv-06083 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 25, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Marin-Torres v. United States, No. 2:20-cv-00942 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 22, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 10 extrajudicial source.)
- McDonald v. Kariko, No. 2:19-cv-01998 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 27, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. United States, No. 3:20-cv-06031 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 11, 2021).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. Tacoma Police, No. 3:20-cv-05548 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 2, 2020).(To 24 warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Tucker v. United States Postal Serv., No. 3:20-cv-05537 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 16, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Chiat v. State of Washington, No. 2:18-cv-01142 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 22, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Flarity v. State of Washington, No. 3:20-cv-05219 (W.D. Wash. July 23, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Smith v. Haynes, No. 3:19-cv-05394 (W.D. Wash. June 29, 2020).(To warrant 17 recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Smith v. Aldridge, No. 3:19-cv-05600 (W.D. Wash. June 17, 2020). (To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Johnson v. Rembert, No. 3:20-cv-05331 (W.D. Wash. June 4, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Armstrong v. United States, No. 2:20-cv-00609 (W.D. Wash. June 1, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 5 extrajudicial source.)
- Harbord v. MTC Fin. Inc, No. 3:20-cv-05080 (W.D. Wash. May 6, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Ma v. Dep't of Educ., No. 2:19-cv-01112 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 2, 2020).“a judge's prior adverse ruling is not sufficient 13 cause for recusal.”
- United States v. Engen, No. 2:18-cv-00712 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 26, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 15 extrajudicial source.)
- United States v. Engen, No. 2:18-cv-00712 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 24, 2020).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 10 extrajudicial source.)
- United States v. Newby, No. 3:18-cv-05978 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 8, 2020).(To warrant recusal, 21 judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Carr v. Ferguson, No. 2:19-cv-01450 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 9, 2019). (To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Bounchanh v. WA State Health Care Auth., No. 3:19-cv-05171 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 25, 2019).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Powell v. King Cnty., No. 2:19-cv-00929 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 1, 2019).(To warrant recusal, 27 28 judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Fields v. United States, No. 2:18-cv-01572 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 29, 2019).(To warrant recusal, judicial bias 15 must stem from an extrajudicial source.)
- Trista Stanley v. Trs. of the California State Univ. California State Univ., Sacramento, 433 F.3d 1129 (9th Cir. 2006).published
- Thomas v. Advance Hous., Inc., 475 F. App'x 405 (3d Cir. 2012).unpublished
- Julian Ayrs v. Arthur Greenwald, 21 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- James L. O'COnnOr v. Higher Educ. Assistance Found., 29 F.3d 633 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Mark Frederick Durbin v. Local 52 Int'l Longshoremen's & Warehousemens Union Pac. Mar. Ass'n, 34 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Waring Park v. Internal Revenue Serv. Dist. Dir., 34 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Jenkins v. Nat'l Univ., 108 F.3d 1385 (9th Cir. 1997).unpublished
- Leslie v. Grupo ICA, 198 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir. 1999).published
- Ted Off v. United States Gov't, 472 F. App'x 789 (9th Cir. 2012).unpublished
- John Schneck v. David Yamamoto, 475 F. App'x 256 (9th Cir. 2012).unpublished
- Curtis Thompson v. Officer Burach, 513 F. App'x 691 (9th Cir. 2013).unpublished
- Linville v. State of Hawaii, 874 F. Supp. 1095 (D. Haw. 1994).published
- Goshen Road Env't Action v. United States Dep't of Agric., 891 F. Supp. 1126 (E.D.N.C. 1995).published
- Ass'n of Mexican-Am. Educators (\AMAE\") v. California", 836 F. Supp. 1534 (N.D. Cal. 1993).published
- Kramer v. Regents of the Univ. of California, 81 F. Supp. 2d 972 (N.D. Cal. 1999).published
- C.S. v. Couch, 843 F. Supp. 2d 894 (N.D. Ind. 2011).published
- Wilson v. Oakland Unified Sch. Dist., No. 3:21-cv-09157 (N.D. Cal. May 16, 2022).
- Cave v. O'Brinkley, No. 2:20-cv-00413 (D. Nev. Oct. 29, 2020).
- Johnson v. HAF, No. 6:24-cv-01141 (D. Or. Oct. 25, 2024).
- (PC) Davis v. Walker, No. 2:08-cv-00593 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2025).
- (PC) Davis v. Walker, No. 2:10-cv-02139 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 7, 2025).
- Fletcher v. Dreesen, No. 2:22-cv-01777 (D. Nev. Apr. 10, 2025).
- Christian v. Bissen, No. 1:04-cv-00743 (D. Haw. May 14, 2025).
- Harris v. Merz, No. 6:25-cv-00786 (D. Or. June 3, 2025).
- United States v. Engen, No. 2:18-cv-00712 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 25, 2021).
- Roger Perkins Stephanie Perkins v. Valley Clerk Trust, 5 F.3d 538 (9th Cir. 1993).published
- Cross v. City of S.F., 386 F. Supp. 3d 1132 (N.D. Cal. 2019).published“hold[ing] that claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state limitations period applicable to claims brought under § 1983”
- Camarata v. Portland Cmty. Coll., No. 3:19-cv-00738, 2019 WL 4723769 (D. Or. Sept. 26, 2019).“[C]laims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state limitations period applicable to claims brought under § 1983.”
- United States v. Newby, No. 3:18-cv-05978 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 12, 2019).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.”
- Miner v. United States Fed. Gov't, No. 2:19-cv-01048 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 12, 2019).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 10 extrajudicial source.”
- Ma v. Dep't of Educ., No. 2:19-cv-01112 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 16, 2020).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial 15 source.”
- Johnson v. United States, No. 3:21-cv-05242 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 26, 2021).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial 23 source.”
- Dixon v. Ennis, No. 2:21-cv-01171 (W.D. Wash. July 25, 2022).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an 4 extrajudicial source.”
- Glymph v. CT Corp. Sys., No. 2:21-cv-01704 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 23, 2024).“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial 11 source.”
At page 711 Statute of limitations governing civil rights claims26 citing cases
- Maiga Hralima v. Prison Health Servs., 446 F. App'x 880 (9th Cir. 2011).unpublished
- Frank McCoy v. San Francisco, 14 F.3d 28 (9th Cir. 1994).published
- Randy F. Williams v. State of California, 19 F.3d 1442 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Carroll Dean Williams v. State of California, 19 F.3d 1442 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Arthur Frank Sanford v. Ira Reiner Edward Miller John Nickols Gary W. Hutton Michael Brenner, 21 F.3d 1115 (9th Cir. 1994).unpublished
- Glenn J. McCurdy v. Mary S. Sandoval, 50 F.3d 15 (9th Cir. 1995).unpublished
- Romaner J. Strong, Jr. v. Jud. Review Monterey Peninsula, 56 F.3d 73 (9th Cir. 1995).published
- Ferris v. Cavallaro, 69 F.3d 543 (9th Cir. 1995).unpublished
- Sharon Denise Gray v. Vons Companies, Inc., 70 F.3d 1278 (9th Cir. 1995).unpublished
- Khalil Adil M. Al-Furqan v. State of California, 78 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 1996).unpublished
Show 15 more citing cases
- Hershey v. Santa Clara Valley Humane Soc., 87 F.3d 1319 (9th Cir. 1996).unpublished
- Eric Vongrastic Logan v. City of San Diego, 92 F.3d 1192 (9th Cir. 1996).unpublished
- Mahon v. City of Los Angeles, 95 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir. 1996).unpublished
- Durston v. Braun, 105 F.3d 664 (9th Cir. 1996).unpublished
- Ferris v. Cavallaro, 107 F.3d 15 (9th Cir. 1997).unpublished
- Steve Schroeder v. Cnty. of San Diego City of La Mesa G. Sperry La Mesa Police Dep't M. Murphy, 108 F.3d 1386 (9th Cir. 1997).unpublished
- Norman Hubbs v. Sheriff of San Bernardino Cnty. Barbara Ferguson, 110 F.3d 68 (9th Cir. 1997).unpublished
- Yvonne Lattimore v. City of Salinas, 117 F.3d 1425 (9th Cir. 1997).unpublished
- Thinket Ink Info. Resources, Inc. v. Sun Microsystems, Inc., 368 F.3d 1053 (9th Cir. 2004).published
- Trista Stanley v. Trs. of the California State Univ. California State Univ., Sacramento, 433 F.3d 1129 (9th Cir. 2006).published
- Lesane v. Hawaiian Airlines, 75 F. Supp. 2d 1113 (D. Haw. 1999).published
- Whitehorn v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 235 F. Supp. 2d 1092 (D. Nev. 2002).published
- Martinez v. Marin Sanitary Serv., 349 F. Supp. 2d 1234 (N.D. Cal. 2004).published
- Wilson v. Cnty. of Los Angeles, 49 F. App'x 699 (9th Cir. 2002).unpublished
- Rosa v. California, 259 F. App'x 918 (9th Cir. 2007).unpublished
At page 710 “statute of limitations for personal injury actions governs claims brought pursuant to 42 u.s.c. 1981 , 1983, and 1985”0 citing cases
v.
The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Clara Sue Kidwell, Daniel F. Melia, Joseph Cerny, Lucien Lecam, Rudolph Beran, Nora B. Lee, Eric L. Lehmann, Jim Pitman, and David Brillinger
Michael Taylor appeals pro se the district court’s dismissal of his civil rights action against the Regents of the University of California and various University employees. The district court determined that the statute of limitations had run on Taylor’s 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 2000d claims. A ruling on the appropriate statute of limitations is a question of law reviewed de novo. Felton v. Unisource Corp., 940 F.2d 503, 508 (9th Cir.1991). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
Taylor filed his civil rights complaint on May 6, 1991. He filed an amended complaint on September 10, 1991, and a second amended complaint on November 8, 1991. On March 10, 1992, the University filed a motion to dismiss, arguing in part, that Taylor’s action was barred by a one-year statute of limitations applicable to the federal civil rights statutes under which Taylor brought suit. On May 11, 1992, the district court dismissed Taylor’s lawsuit on the basis that the complaint was filed beyond the one-year state statute of limitations period governing claims brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985, and 2000d. Taylor timely appealed the district court’s May 11, 1992 dismissal.
California’s one-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions governs claims brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 1985. See Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 275, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 1946, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985); (state personal injury limitation statute governs § 1983 claims); Del Percio v. Thomsley, 877 F.2d 785, 786 (9th Cir.1989) (same); McDougal v. County [*712] of Imperial, 942 F.2d 668, 672-74 (9th Cir.1991) (state personal injury statute governs §§ 1981 and 1985 claims). Therefore, the district court properly dismissed all of Taylor’s claims brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 1985 which accrued more than one year before he filed his first complaint.
The only remaining claims were those claims Taylor raised pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000d. Section 2000d forbids any person or institution which receives federal funds to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.[1] The defendants argued below, and the district court agreed, that Taylor’s claims pursuant to § 2000d were similarly barred by the one-year statute of limitations period governing the other federal civil rights statutes under which Taylor sued. This circuit has not previously ruled, however, on the applicable statute of limitations governing claims brought under § 2000d.
Other circuit courts which have considered this issue have concluded that the same limitations period which applies to § 1983 claims governs claims brought under § 2000d. The Eighth Circuit held that the same statute of limitations should apply to civil rights actions under § 2000d as applies under §§ 1981 and 1983. The court reasoned: “Since 2000d contains no statute of limitations, it will be governed by the most analogous state period of limitations. To this extent, plaintiffs 2000d claim is controlled by the same considerations which inhere in the § 1981 and § 1983 claims.... [Thus], we bar plaintiffs 2000d claim for not being timely filed....” Chambers v. Omaha Pub. Sch. Dist., 536 F.2d 222, 225 n. 2 (8th Cir.1976). The Fifth and the Third Circuits have reached similar conclusions. See Frazier v. Garrison I.S.D., 980 F.2d 1514, 1520-22 (5th Cir.1993) (the applicable state personal injury statute of limitations determines the length of the limitation period within which to bring a § 2000d civil rights action); Drayden v. Needville Indep. Sch. Dist., 642 F.2d 129, 131 (5th Cir.1981) (same); cf. Bougher v. University of Pittsburgh, 882 F.2d 74, 77-78 (3d Cir.1989) (state’s personal injury statute of limitation applies to Title IX claims which are analogous to § 2000d claims).
We agree with the reasoning in these other cases, and we find no reason to depart from our sister circuits. Accordingly, we now hold that claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d are governed by the same state limitations period applicable to claims brought under § 1983. In so holding, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Taylor’s action as barred by the one-year state statute of limitations for personal injury actions in California.
Taylor also contends that District Court Judge Smith should have recused herself. Taylor filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. §§ 144 and 455 seeking Judge Smith’s recusal. In his affidavit, Taylor asserted that a prior ruling by Judge Smith dismissing two defendants on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds was error, and that this error was the result of bias against him, or in favor of the defendants.[2]
“The standard for recusal under 28 U.S.C. §§ 144, 455 is whether a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would conclude the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” United States v. Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 939 (9th Cir.1986) (quotations omitted). To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source. Pau v. Yosemite Park and Curry Co., 928 F.2d 880, 885 (9th Cir.1991); Studley, 783 F.2d at 939. “[A] judge’s prior adverse ruling is not sufficient cause for re-cusal.” Studley, 783 F.2d at 939.
Here, the essence of Taylor’s allegation of judicial bias was that Judge Smith’s prior ruling was adverse to him. Thus, he has not shown judicial bias from an extrajudicial source. See Pau, 928 F.2d at 885;[*713] Studley, 783 F.2d at 939. Accordingly, Judge Smith did not abuse her discretion by declining to recuse herself.
AFFIRMED.
42 U.S.C. § 2000d provides: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Taylor also challenges the district court’s dismissal of defendants Heyman and Lin-Tien, former and current University of California Chancellors on Eleventh Amendment grounds. We need not reach this issue, however, because we affirm the district court’s order of dismissal on statute of limitations grounds.