Wright v. DCSE

Supreme Court of Delaware
Wright v. DCSE, 976 A.2d 172 (Del. 2009)
2009 WL 1847743
Steele, Chief Justice, Jacobs and Ridgely, Justices

Wright v. DCSE

Opinion

ERRICK M. WRIGHT, Respondent Below-Appellant,
v.
DCSE et al., Petitioners Below-Appellees.

No. 313, 2009

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: June 24, 2009.
Decided: June 29, 2009.

Before STEELE, Chief Justice, JACOBS and RIDGELY, Justices.

O R D E R

HENRY DUPONT RIDGELY, Justice

This 29th day of June 2009, it appears to the Court that:

(1) The appellant has filed a notice of appeal from a decision of a Family Court Commissioner dated April 29, 2009. The Clerk of the Court issued a notice to show cause why the appeal should not be dismissed for this Court's lack of jurisdiction to consider an appeal directly from a decision of a Family Court Commissioner. The appellant filed a response to the notice to show cause on June 24, 2009. In the response, the appellant argues that Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 1051 grants this Court jurisdiction to hear the instant appeal.

(2) A Commissioner's decision is not a final judgment for purposes of appeal to this Court.[1] A party's right of review from a Commissioner's decision shall be to a judge of the Family Court.[2] Accordingly, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider the instant appeal in the first instance and it, therefore, must be dismissed.[3]

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED.

NOTES

[1] Redden v. McGill, 549 A.2d 695, 697-98 (Del. 1988).

[2] Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 915(d).

[3] While Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 1051 addresses this Court's general appellate jurisdiction, it does not confer jurisdiction upon this Court to hear an appeal directly from the decision of a Family Court Commissioner.

Reference

Cited By
1 case
Status
Published