Abdullah M. Rasheed v. J. Darrell Hart, Warden

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,__________________ January 24, 2014

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A14A0870. ABDULLAH M. RASHEED v. J. DARRELL HART, WARDEN.

Abdullah M. Rasheed, a prison inmate, attempted to file a civil action against Warden J. Darrell Hart. The trial court denied filing pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), concluding that Rasheed’s proposed complaint showed a complete absence of any justiciable law or fact. Rasheed then filed this direct appeal.1 We, however, lack jurisdiction. Because Rasheed is incarcerated, his appeal is controlled by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, OCGA § 42-12-1 et seq. Under OCGA § 42-12-8, an appeal of a civil action filed by a prisoner “shall be as provided in Code Section 5-6-35.” And under OCGA § 5-6-35, the party wishing to appeal must file an application for discretionary appeal to the appropriate appellate court. Because a prisoner has no right of direct appeal in civil cases, we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal from the superior court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). This appeal is therefore DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 01/24/2014 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,__________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.

1 Rasheed directed his appeal to the Supreme Court, which transferred the matter here.