Florida Commission on Offender Review v. Clarke

FIRST D ISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
S TATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D2024-1093
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F LORIDA C OMMISSION ON
OFFENDER R EVIEW,
Appellant,
v.
M ELANIE C LARKE ,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County.
J. Lee Marsh, Judge.
February 11, 2026
P ER C URIAM.
Appellant, 	the 	Florida 	Commission 	on 	Offender 	Review
(“Commission”), 	appeals 	the 	trial 	court’s 	order 	granting 	the
petition for mandamus relief filed by Appellee, Melanie Clarke,
and directing the Commission to reconsider its decision not to
parole her. 	Because we agree with the Commission that the trial
court erroneously found that it abused its discretion, we reverse
the trial court’s order. See Thomas v. Fla. Parole Comm’n, 107 So.
3d 517, 518 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (explaining that the Commission’s
decision to suspend an inmate’s presumptive parole release date
and deferring the setting of an effective parole release date can be
set 	aside 	by 	a 	court 	only 	for 	a 	demonstrated 	abuse 	in 	the
Commission’s discretion); Fla. Parole Comm’n v. Huckelbury, 903

2
So. 2d 977, 978 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005) (holding that the trial court
erred in directing the Parole Commission to reconsider its decision
where the appellee did not show that the Commission deviated
from the legal requirements imposed upon it and the record did
not establish that the Commission based its decision on illegal
grounds or improper considerations).
R EVERSED.
LEWIS, R OBERTS, and NORDBY, JJ., concur.
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Not 	final 	until 	disposition 	of 	any 	timely 	and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Rana Wallace, General Counsel, and Mark Hiers, Deputy General
Counsel, Florida Commission on Offender Review, Tallahassee, for
Appellant.
John D. Middleton of Middleton & Middleton, P.A., Melrose, for
Appellee.