Case Title: Hill v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: SC2023-0178

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 2023-06-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
Supreme Court of Florida 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC2023-0178 
____________ 
 
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. 
 
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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