Cite as: 514 U. S. 749 (1995)
Kennedy, J., concurring in judgment
some valid Ohio law other than the tolling statute) it had no alternative but to dismiss. The Court's opinion gives reasons why the Ohio law applied by the Ohio Supreme Court in this case is in its substance invalid. I add that even the rubric under which that law was announced is invalid: It has nothing to do with remedial discretion.
Justice Kennedy, with whom Justice O'Connor joins, concurring in the judgment.
We do not read today's opinion to surrender in advance our authority to decide that in some exceptional cases, courts may shape relief in light of disruption of important reliance interests or the unfairness caused by unexpected judicial decisions. We cannot foresee the myriad circumstances in which the question might arise. In two classes of cases, courts already take account of these considerations: cases involving qualified immunity, which protects public officials' reliance on clearly established law, see Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U. S. 800, 818 (1982); and cases applying the Teague bar which, among other objectives, protects States that rely on the law existing at the time a conviction becomes final, see Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288, 310 (1989). Cf. ante, at 758. As the Court seems to acknowledge, however, there may be other areas where the importance of the reliance interests that are disturbed precludes a remedy despite the retroactive application of the new rule. Ante, at 758-759. In my view, reliance on statutes of limitations falls into that category in certain circumstances, see Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson, 501 U. S. 350, 371-374 (1991) (O'Connor, J., dissenting); id., at 379 (Kennedy, J., dissenting); American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Smith, 496 U. S. 167, 221-222 (1990) (Stevens, J., dissenting); Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U. S. 604 (1987); Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, 404 U. S. 97 (1971), consistent with a long tradition of judicial authority to formulate rules ensuring fair and predictable enforcement of statutes of limitations, for
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