Antonio Blocker v. Joshua Jones, Warden

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: June 23, 2025
• Docket: A25A1953
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ June 23, 2025

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A25A1953. ANTONIO BLOCKER v. JOSHUA JONES, WARDEN.

Prison inmate Antonio Blocker filed a petition for a writ of mandamus against a prison warden and a request to proceed in forma pauperis in that proceeding. The trial court denied Blocker’s mandamus petition and request to proceed in forma pauperis, and he filed this direct appeal. We lack jurisdiction. While judgments and orders granting or refusing to grant mandamus relief generally are directly appealable, see OCGA § 5-6-34 (a) (7), under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996, an appeal in a civil action filed by a prisoner must be initiated by filing an application for discretionary review. See OCGA § 42-12-8, cross-referencing OCGA § 5-6-35; Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997). “Compliance with the discretionary appeals procedure is jurisdictional.” Smoak v. Dept. of Human Resources, 221 Ga. App. 257, 257 (471 SE2d 60) (1996). Because Blocker was incarcerated when he filed this civil action, his failure to comply with the discretionary review procedure deprives us of jurisdiction over this direct appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED. See Jones, 267 Ga. at 490-491.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 06/23/2025 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.