WANDA L. ROSS, PETITIONER,
v.
E. RANDOLPH BENTLEY, JUDGE, ETC., RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1996-08-22
No. 86904
KOGAN, C.J., and SHAW, GRIMES, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
678 So. 2d 334 Florida Supreme Court (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

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Holding

The Supreme Court approved the district court's decision, finding that 'shall' in the statute is directory, not mandatory, rendering the constitutional question moot.


Facts & Procedural History

The district court denied a petition for writ of prohibition based on prior decisions concerning the interpretation of 'shall' in domestic violence an…

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Opinion of the Court
OVERTON, Justice.

OVERTON, Justice.

We have for review Ross v. Bentley, 668 So. 2d 615 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), in which the district court denied Wanda L. Ross’s petition for writ of prohibition on authority of Walker v. Bentley, 660 So. 2d 313 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)(Wa¡%er I), and Lopez v. Bentley, 660 So. 2d 1138 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995){Lopez I). In Walker I, the district court certified the following questions as being of great public importance:

IS THE WORD “SHALL” AS USED IN SECTION 741.30(8)(a), FLORIDA STATUTES (SUPP.1994), TO BE INTERPRETED AS MANDATORY RATHER THAN AS PERMISSIVE OR DIRECTORY?

IF INTERPRETED AS MANDATORY, IS SECTION 741.30(8)(a), FLORIDA STATUTES (SUPP.1994), AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ENCROACHMENT ON THE CONTEMPT POWER OF THE JUDICIARY IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE II, SECTION 3 OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION? 660 So. 2d at 321. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. In Walker v. Bentley, 678 So. 2d 1265 (Fla.1996)(Walker II), we have approved the opinion of the district court in Walker I and answered the first question by finding that the word “shall” in section 741.30(8)(a), which governs the use of contempt proceedings in domestic violence cases, is to be interpreted as directory rather than mandatory. Our answer to the first question rendered the second certified question moot. We also recently approved the opinion in Lopez I, by finding that the reasoning in Walker II applies equally to section 784.046(9)(a), Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), which governs the use of contempt proceedings in repeat violence cases. See Lopez v. Bentley, 678 So. 2d 333 (Fla.1996)(Lopez II).

Accordingly, for the reasons expressed in Walker II and Lopez II, we approve the decision of the district court in the instant ease.

It is so ordered.

KOGAN, C.J., and SHAW, GRIMES, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.


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