Merritt v. Florida Department of Corrections

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

FORT PIERCE DIVISION

CASE NO. 20-14425-CIV-CANNON

PAUL WAYNE MERRITT,

Petitioner, v.

FLORIDA COMMISSION

ON OFFENDER REVIEW

Respondent. _________________________/

ORDER DISMISSING UNAUTHORIZED SUCCESSIVE APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 2254

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Petitioner’s amended application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, which was docketed on June 15, 2021 and is styled “Habeas Corpus Actual Innocent” [ECF No. 10]. As noted by the Court’s Order of Dismissal on May 27, 2020 [ECF No. 8], before a prisoner may file a second or successive habeas petition, he first must obtain an order from the court of appeals authorizing the district court to consider the petition. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). “Absent such an order, the district court lacks jurisdiction to consider a second or successive habeas petition.” Thomas v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 737 F. App’x 984, (11th Cir. 2018) (citing Tompkins v. Sec’y, Dep’t of Corr., 557 F.3d 1257, 1259 (11th Cir. 2009)); In re Williams, 898 F.3d 1098, 1099 (11th Cir. 2018). For the same reasons listed in the Court’s Order dated May 20, 2020, Petitioner’s application constitutes a “second or successive” habeas petition, yet he has not obtained leave from the Eleventh Circuit to file such a petition. Accordingly, the amended application [ECF No. 10] is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

CASE NO. 20-14425-CIV-CANNON CONCLUSION

Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:

1. The unauthorized successive amended application for a writ of habeas corpus [ECF No. 10] is DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION.

2. No Certificate of Appealability shall issue. See Bolin v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 628 F. App’x 728, 730 (11th Cir. 2016) (explaining a COA is unnecessary to appeal a dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction).

3. The Clerk of Court shall CLOSE THIS CASE.

4. All pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Fort Pierce, Florida, this 17th day of June 2021.

AILEEN j CANNON

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies to:

Paul Wayne Merritt

073084

Martin Correctional Institution

Inmate Mail/Parcels

1150 SW Allapattah Road

Indiantown, Florida 34956

PRO SE

Counsel of record