Cannon v. Forrest

 Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE ALTON HALL CANNON, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. WILMA FORREST, ET AL., Plaintiffs Below, Appellees. § § § § § § § § § § § No. 392, 2022 Court Below–Justice of the Peace Court of the State of Delaware C.A. No. JP13-22-006909 Submitted: October 27, 2022 Decided: November 18, 2022 Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and TRAYNOR, Justices. ORDER After consideration of the notice to show cause and the appellant’s response, it appears to the Court that: (1) On October 21, 2022, the appellant, Alton Hall Cannon, filed a notice of appeal from a Justice of the Peace Court order denying his motion to vacate a default judgment previously entered against him on September 16, 2022. The Senior Court Clerk issued a notice to Cannon to show cause why his appeal should not be dismissed for this Court’s lack of jurisdiction to consider an appeal from the Justice of the Peace Court. (2) Cannon has responded to the notice to show cause and argues, among other things, that permitting the Delaware court system to exercise jurisdiction over him violates his First Amendment rights. Cannon does not address this Court’s lack of jurisdiction to consider an appeal from the Justice of the Peace Court. (3) It is manifest that this Court does not have jurisdiction over this appeal. A decision by a magistrate of the Justice of the Peace Court, whether in a civil or criminal case, is not directly appealable to this Court.1 This appeal must therefore be dismissed. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, under Supreme Court Rule 29(b), that the appeal is DISMISSED. BY THE COURT: /s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr. Justice 1 Kostyshyn v. City of Wilmington, 2006 WL 2771733 (Del. Sept. 25, 2006) (citing Del. Const., art. IV, § 11). 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.