Cite as: 538 U. S. 456 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
state-law limitations periods fall into the category of "procedure" immune from congressional regulation. Respondent's reliance on Sun Oil Co. v. Wortman, 486 U. S. 717 (1988), which held a state statute of limitations to be "procedural" for purposes of the Full Faith and Credit Clause, is misplaced. As we noted in that very case, the meaning of " 'substance' " and " 'procedure' " in a particular context is "largely determined by the purposes for which the dichotomy is drawn." Id., at 726. For purposes of Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U. S. 64 (1938), for example, statutes of limitations are treated as substantive. Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, 326 U. S. 99 (1945). Stewart v. Kahn, 11 Wall., at 506- 507, provides ample support for the proposition that—if the substance-procedure dichotomy posited by respondent is valid—the tolling of limitations periods falls on the "substantive" side of the line. To sustain § 1367(d) in this case, we need not (and do not) hold that Congress has unlimited power to regulate practice and procedure in state courts.
We therefore reject respondent's contention that § 1367(d) is facially unconstitutional.
B
Respondent next maintains that § 1367(d) should not be interpreted to apply to claims brought against a State's political subdivisions. We find this contention also to be without merit.
The South Carolina Tort Claims Act, S. C. Code Ann. § 15- 78-10 et seq. (West Supp. 2002), confers upon respondent an immunity from tort liability for any claim brought more than two years after the injury was or should have been discovered. In respondent's view, § 1367(d)'s extension of the time period in which a State's political subdivisions may be sued constitutes an impermissible abrogation of "sovereign immunity." That is not so. Although we have held that Congress lacks authority under Article I to override a State's immunity from suit in its own courts, see Alden v. Maine,
465
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007