Alvin Eugene Hill v. State of Florida ( 2023 )

Supreme Court of Florida
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No. SC2023-0178
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ALVIN EUGENE HILL,
Petitioner,
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
June 29, 2023
PER CURIAM.
Alvin Eugene Hill, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se
petition for writ of prohibition with this Court challenging the trial
court’s rulings. 1 We denied the petition, retained jurisdiction, and
directed Hill to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for his
repeated misuse of our limited resources. Hill v. State, No. SC2023-
0178, 2023 WL 2674607 (Fla. Mar. 29, 2023); see Fla. R. App. P.
9.410(a) (Sanctions; Court’s Motion). Having failed to file a
1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(7), Fla. Const.
response, we now find that Hill has failed to show cause why he
should not be barred, and we sanction him as set forth below.
Hill, who was convicted in his most recent case of possession
of a controlled substance, began filing petitions with the Court in
2018. His filings pertained to several different criminal cases out of
the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court (St. Lucie County) (Case Nos.
562021CF003103AXXXXX, 562019CF000083AXXXXX,
562021MM001588AXXXXX, and 562021CF003103AXXXXX), and a
dependency case regarding his children (Case No.
562018DP000267AXXXXX). We have never granted the relief
sought in any of Hill’s filings, which have all been denied,
dismissed, or transferred to another court for consideration; his
petition in this case is no exception. Hill filed the instant
prohibition petition challenging the trial court’s denial of a motion
and seeking to dismiss his case. Because a writ of prohibition may
not be used in such a manner, we denied the petition and directed
Hill to show cause why he should not be barred from filing any
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further pro se requests for relief in this Court. Hill failed to file a
response to the order to show cause. 2
Therefore, based on Hill’s history of filing pro se petitions and
requests for relief that are meritless or otherwise inappropriate for
this Court’s review, we now find that he has abused this Court’s
limited judicial resources. See Pettway v. McNeil, 987 So. 2d 20, 22
(Fla. 2008) (explaining that this Court has previously “exercised the
inherent judicial authority to sanction an abusive litigant” and that
“[o]ne justification for such a sanction lies in the protection of the
rights of others to have the Court conduct timely reviews of their
legitimate filings”). Hill did not respond to the order to show cause,
2. A copy of the show cause order was mailed to Hill’s last
known address on March 29, 2023, at the St. Lucie County Jail.
See Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516(b)(2) (“Service on . . .
parties who are not represented by an attorney and who are
excused from e-mail service . . . must be made by delivering a copy
of the document or by mailing it to the party or attorney at their last
known address . . . .”). However, on April 13, 2023, the order was
returned because Hill was no longer at the facility. Appearing that
Hill was transferred to Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC)
custody, the order was sent to FDOC on April 14, 2023. The order
was again returned, this time because Hill had an “inactive
account.” A review of the FDOC online offender database revealed
that Hill was released from FDOC custody on April 14, 2023. To
date, Hill has not provided the Court an updated mailing address.
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thus failing to offer any justification for his repeated misuse of this
Court’s resources. We are therefore convinced that if not
restrained, Hill will continue to abuse the judicial process and
burden this Court (and thereby harm other litigants) with frivolous
and meritless filings.
Accordingly, we direct the Clerk of this Court to reject any
future pleadings, filings, papers, or other requests for relief
submitted by Alvin Eugene Hill, unless they are signed by a
member in good standing of The Florida Bar. Henceforth, Hill may
only petition the Court through the assistance of counsel whenever
such counsel determines that the proceeding may have merit and
can be filed in good faith.
It is so ordered.
MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS,
FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.
Original Proceeding – Prohibition
Alvin Eugene Hill, pro se, Fort Pierce, Florida,
for Petitioner
No appearance for Respondent
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