Marquise Ali Robbins v. Department of Corrections

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 31, 2017
• Docket: A17A1746
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 31, 2017

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A17A1746. MARQUISE ALI ROBBINS v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS et al.

Marquise Ali Robbins, a prison inmate, attempted to file a civil action in the trial court, but the trial court denied his filing pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-2 (d), concluding that his complaint showed a complete absence of any justiciable law or fact. Robbins then filed this direct appeal in the Supreme Court, which transferred it here.1 We lack jurisdiction. Because Robbins 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 trial court’s order. See Jones v. Townsend, 267 Ga. 489, 490 (480 SE2d 24) (1997).

1 Robbins also filed an application for discretionary appeal in the Supreme Court, which transferred it here. We denied the application, see Case No. A17D0031 (denied Sept. 14, 2016), which constitutes an adjudication on the merits. See Northwest Social and Civic Club v. Franklin, 276 Ga. 859, 860 (583 SE2d 858) (2003). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 07/31/2017 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.