RODNEY THOMAS, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Florida appellate court quashed a sanction imposed on a pro se litigant for filing a notice of appeal challenging a Spencer order restricting his further pro se filings, holding that such orders cannot restrict access to appeal.
A Spencer order restricting pro se filings cannot restrict or frustrate an appeal taken from that order, and sanctions for filing such an appeal are improper.
[1] A trial court may not sanction a pro se litigant for filing a notice of appeal challenging a Spencer order that restricts further pro se filings, as such orders cannot re…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“an order restricting further pro se filings "cannot restrict or frustrate in any way an appeal taken from that order."”
The court cited Martin v. Circuit Court to establish that Spencer orders cannot impede appeals challenging them.
Rodney Thomas, a pro se litigant in a criminal case, filed a notice of appeal challenging a Spencer order that prohibited him from filing further pro …
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Rodney Thomas seeks review of a sanction imposed for filing a notice of appeal from an order prohibiting him from filing further pro se challenges to his conviction and sentence in lower court case number 94CF012542AXX. See State v. Spencer, 751 So.2d 47 (Fla.1999). The Spencer order was upheld by this court in case number 4D07-5054. But, while review was still pending in this court, on April 7, 2008, the trial court sanctioned Thomas for filing the pro se notice of appeal that sought review of the Spencer order. The April 7, 2008 order recommended that the Department of Corrections forfeit his gain time. See § 944.279(1), Fla. Stat. (2007).
Because a Spencer order affects a pro se litigant’s access to the court, the litigant has the right to challenge whether the order was warranted and whether the proper procedure was followed. See, e.g., Rogers v. State, 916 So.2d 899 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). Moreover, as this court has recognized, an order restricting further pro se filings “cannot restrict or frustrate in any way an appeal taken from that order.” Martin v. Circuit Court, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, 627 So.2d 1298, 1300 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). Accordingly, *195the April 7, 2008 sanction order is quashed.
FARMER, STEVENSON, and GROSS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Otto Donnie Hartman v. State, 48 So. 3d 1032 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…nclude language barring future pro se filings in the circuit court. See State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla.1999); Fitzgerald v. State, 18 So. 3d 1145 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009); Epps v. State, 941 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); see also Thomas v. State, 1 So. 3d 194 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). This court’s affirmance does not prevent appellant from seeking review of any such order issued by the trial court. Affirmed. STEVENSON, TAYLOR and LEVINE, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Martin v. Cir. Court, 627 So. 2d 1298 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Rogers v. State, 916 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)