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Florida Braille Prisoner Case From PDF

 

 

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éupreme Qlluurt at Jflnriha

TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2012

CASE NO.: SC09—993

DEMETRIO R. GABRIELE vs. STATE OF FLORIDA

Petiti0ner(s) Respondent(s)

Petitioner Demetrio R. Gabriele has ?led a petition for writ of mandamus

requesting that this Court compel the Fourth District Court of Appeal to accept

pleadings ?led in Braille and to correspond with him in Braille formatted

documents. "[T]o be entitled to a writ of mandamus the petitioner must have a clear

legal right to the requested relief, the respondent must have an indisputable legal

duty to perform the requested action, and the petitioner must have no other adequate

remedy available.“ Huffman v. State, 813 So. 2d 10, 11 (Fla. 2000). It has been

agreed that the Petitioner is legally blind. We hold that the Petitioner is entitled to

mandamus relief.

First, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Sixth

Amendment to the United States Constitution grant the Petitioner a clear lega.l right

of access to the courts. See Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 523, 529 (2004).

Second, the Fourth District has an indisputable legal duty to provide

accommodations to the Petitioner. Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.540(a)

mandates that Florida courts will provide to "[q]ualif1ed individuals, . . . at the

court's expense, . . . accommodations, reasonable modi?cations to rules, policies, or

practices, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, in order [for those

individuals] to participate in programs or activities provided by the courts of this

state." Moreover, section 12182 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

states that "[n]o individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability

in the full and equal enjoyment of the . . . services, facilities, . . . or

accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns,

leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation." 42 U.S.C. §

121 82(a) (1990). The substantive merit or lack of merit in the Petitioner's

underlying claim does not determine the ADA analysis. The Fourth District has

refused to provide the Petitioner with an accommodation as mandated by the ADA

and the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. Third, the Petitioner has no

remedy available other than to petition this Court for relief.

 

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Case No. SC09-993

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Consequently, the Petitioner has satis?ed the requirements for mandamus and we

grant the mandamus petition as it pertains to Braille formatted documents.

Having accepted jurisdiction, E art. V, § 3(b)(8), Fla. Const., we exercise our

discretion to address the substantive merits of the underlying claims. 52 Price v. State,

995 So. 2d 401, 406 (Fla. 2008); Savoie v. State, 422 So. 2d 308, 310 (Fla. 1982)

("[O]nce we accept jurisdiction over a cause in order to resolve a legal issue. . . we may,

in our discretion, consider other issues properly raised and argued before this Court.").

With regard to the underlying merits of the Petitioner's claims, we deny relief. We have

thoroughly considered the challenges that the Petitioner raises with regard to his

conviction and conclude that they are without merit.

Therefore, we withhold issuance of the writ because we have resolved this

case on the merits and trust that the Fourth District Court of Appeal will fully

comply with the dictates of this order when presented with similar situations in the

future.

It is so ordered.

-POLSTON, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, LABARGA, and PERRY, JJ., concur.

HON. THOMAS MICHAEL LYNCH, IV, JUDGE

TIMOTHY EDWARD KILEY

STEPHEN RUSSELL sENN/

TRISHA MEGGS PATE

HON. MARILYN BEUTTENMULLER, CLERK

LISA M. RALEIGH

HON. VICTOR TOBIN