Case Title: Rivera v. State

Citation: 728 So. 2d 1165

Docket Number: 92,601

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1998-12-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
728 So. 2d 1165 (1998)
Vincent Faustino RIVERA, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, et al., Respondents.
No. 92,601.

Supreme Court of Florida.
December 10, 1998.
Vincent Faustino Rivera, inmate No. 518548, petitioned this Court for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. On October 9, 1998, this Court denied the petition as procedurally barred and issued an order to Rivera requiring that he show cause why this Court should not prohibit him from submitting further procedurally barred or otherwise frivolous filings. The show cause order was based on the following:
Rivera responds to this Court's order to show cause by continuing to contest the results of his appeal. Rivera should have raised the claims he raises here in the district court. Since the 1980 constitutional revisions, the district courts now constitute the courts of last resort for the vast majority of litigants. In re Amendments to Fla. Rules of Appellate Procedure, 609 So. 2d 516, 526 (Fla.1992). This Court has already ruled that the merits of Rivera's case will not be heard again. Accordingly, this Court finds no justification to allow Rivera to continue to file procedurally barred petitions and that Rivera's continuous filings have substantially interfered with the orderly process of judicial administration. This Court has a responsibility to ensure every citizen's access to courts. To further that end, this Court has prevented abusive litigants from continuously filing frivolous petitions, thus enabling the Court to devote its finite resources to those who have not abused the system. See Attwood v. Singletary, 661 So. 2d 1216, 1217 (Fla.1995). Consequently, this Court exercises its inherent authority to prevent the abuse of the judicial system, and bars Rivera from any future filings concerning issues which should have been or actually were raised on appeal or in prior postconviction proceedings and which do not clearly invoke this Court's exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to Article V, Section 3(b)(1)-(6), of the Florida Constitution. We caution Rivera that further abuses of the judicial process could result in additional sanctions, including, but not limited to, sanctions under either section 944.279 or section 944.28(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1997).
It is so ordered.
OVERTON, SHAW, KOGAN, WELLS and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.