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Fla. Stat. § 944.279

Disciplinary procedures applicable to prisoner for filing frivolous or malicious actions or bringing false information before court

Known as the Drug-Free Corrections Act

The act spans §§ 944–944 (103 sections).

Applied in 28 court decisions — leading case Smith v. Indiana Department of Correction (2008)

Most recently applied in Sanders Jr. v. State (May 2019)

History.--s. 5, ch. 96-106; s. 14, ch. 97-78; s. 1, ch. 2004-285.

How often courts cite this section

200520102019120
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) At any time, and upon its own motion or on motion of a party, a court may conduct an inquiry into whether any action or appeal brought by a prisoner was brought in good faith. A prisoner who is found by a court to have brought a frivolous or malicious suit, action, claim, proceeding, or appeal in any court of this state or in any federal court, which is filed after June 30, 1996, or to have brought a frivolous or malicious collateral criminal proceeding, which is filed after September 30, 2004, or who knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth brought false information or evidence before the court, is subject to disciplinary procedures pursuant to the rules of the Department of Corrections. The court shall issue a written finding and direct that a certified copy be forwarded to the appropriate institution or facility for disciplinary procedures pursuant to the rules of the department as provided in s. 944.09.

(2) This section does not apply to a criminal proceeding.

(3) For purposes of this section, “prisoner” means a person who is convicted of a crime and is incarcerated for that crime or who is being held in custody pending extradition or sentencing.

Official source: Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Florida statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.