Kids injured by state have until they turn 21 to sue, MD appellate court rules

People injured by the state when they were children have until their 21st birthdays to sue, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled last week.

The court ruled Thursday that the three-year statute of limitations for claims under the Maryland Tort Claims Act begins when the child turns 18, not at the time of the incident. The three-year clock is subject to a pause, known as tolling, for the remainder of their childhoods.

The ruling means that Cameron Cunningham, who suffered a knee injury while in state custody, can press his claims against the Department of Juvenile Services and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Spokespeople for latter and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General declined to comment.

Appellate Court Chief Judge E. Gregory Wells wrote that the ruling balances “the competing interests of juvenile rights and the State’s sovereign immunity.”

He cited, among other cases, a 2002 Maryland Supreme Court opinion finding that the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims must be tolled until the person turns 18.

“A key feature of statutes of limitations, historically, is tolling for minor plaintiffs,” wrote Wells, who was joined by Judge Daniel Friedman and Senior Judge Michele Hotten, who was specially assigned.

“The justification is simple: legally, ‘a child is disabled from bringing a tort action until he or she is 18 years old.’ Because a child himself cannot bring his own tort claim, he relies on his parents to do so if they desire the action to be brought before the child turns 18,” the opinion reads.

That 2002 opinion quoted an earlier one that held that if the clock runs out before the child has a chance to sue, “the child would be twice victimized — once at the hands of the tortfeasor, and once by parents who, for whatever reason, failed to timely prosecute (the) claims.”

Wells wrote that the ruling won’t hurt the state’s ability to defend against tort claims.

“When weighing the limited nature of the State’s waiver of sovereign immunity with the core right to sue, which is stripped from juveniles without minority tolling, the juvenile right to sue wins out,” he wrote.

The ruling won’t affect lawsuits over child sexual abuse. The 2023 Child Victims Act ended the statute of limitations for such lawsuits, allowing victims to sue decades later. The state is facing more than 12,000 claims and potentially billions of dollars in liability for those claims, most of which are against the Juvenile Services Department and its predecessor agencies.

In 2019, when he was 16, Cunningham was arrested at his high school in Baltimore County. During the arrest, the ACL and meniscus in his left knee were severely damaged, said his lawyer, Tiffani Collins, of the Collins Legal Group in Towson.

Cunningham alleges that the state failed to provide adequate healthcare over the next year. Collins said his physical therapy appointments were often canceled and not rescheduled for months. Seven years after the injury, he still walks with a limp, his range of motion is limited, and he can’t put too much weight on his left leg.

He sued in Baltimore City Circuit Court four days before he turned 21, in November 2024. The court dismissed the case, ruling that the statute of limitations barred his claim.

“He was ecstatic” after last week’s decision, Collins said in an interview Tuesday. “He was extremely happy.”

Collins said the opinion will have a wide impact.

“I think minor plaintiffs will benefit from this ruling for years to come,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to rely on the competence of their parents.”