Dante G. Fredrick v. Glynn County Police Department

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ September 15, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A0013. DANTE G. FREDRICK v. GLYNN COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT et al.

Dante G. Fredrick, a prison inmate, attempted to file a civil action against the

Glynn County Police Department, Tattnall County Superior Court, the City of

Brunswick, and various police officers alleging violations of “official policy,” among

other things. The trial court denied his filing pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d),

concluding that Fredrick’s pleadings showed a complete absence of any justiciable

issue of law or fact. Fredrick then filed this direct appeal.1 We, however, lack

jurisdiction.

Because Fredrick 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

1 Fredrick originally filed his appeal in the Georgia Supreme Court, which transferred the appeal to this Court. See Case No. S16A1733 (transferred July 12, 2016). 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 09/15/2016 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.