Writ of Mandamus

A writ of mandamus (man DAMM us) is a way to get appellate review of a case when an ordinary appeal would be inadequate. Technically, a writ of mandamus asks the appellate court to order a judge to do something. If the appellate court orders a judge not to do something, it’s called a writ of prohibition.

Read more about the Writ of Mandamus in Alabama

5 thoughts on “Writ of Mandamus”

  1. Where can I find an example of a Writ of Mandamus? I’m in the state of Kansas and trying to recuse a judge. I am at the point where the only choice left is to file a Writ of Mandamus. If I can find an example it would be of great help.

  2. Alabama is the only state in the country which immediately sends any complaint filed with the Judicial Inquiry Commission directly to the judge. Therefore, our judge KNOWS that I filed a formal complaint against him, yet he has refused to recuse from our new trial. My attorney, a second time, filed a motion to request that the judge recuse since he knows that I have a current complaint before the JIC, yet the judge will not recuse.

    We have written reports circulating that our judge is being investigated by the FBI for ethics violation, admitted adultery, malfeasance, on and on. The Courthouse Forum is littered with complaints about this Lauderdale County judge.

    Is a Writ Of Mandamus my only option? How long does this take? How much does it generally cost a litigant to pursue this writ? Our judge has increased legal fees and stalled resolution by such tactics, but I REFUSE to accept this overwhelmingly biased judge.

    The judge overlooked my former husband’s gross misconduct including drug and alcohol abuse, felony drug trafficking, tax fraud, bank fraud, on and on. He granted him joint custody! This judge forced our family to live together for two full years in horrible conditions even though we owned a second home a thousand yards away from this home!

    If the judge is indeed removed from office for ethics violation/malfeasance, what will happen to his questionable rulings?

    We were denied our Constitutional right to appeal because the clerk failed to notify either attorney of the ruling at the same time she was communicating directly with my former husband. Our judge’s bias in my case has been extreme and extraordinary. I have contacted the AG, governor, State Bar, FBI, and reporters, so it seems like someone may be listening now.

  3. Your challenge is one of many faced by people who file complaints against their judge. I don’t know what your options are at this point, but your lawyer can advise you. And there absolutely is no requirement that a judge who is handling a case involving a litigant recuse himself when that litigant files a judicial complaint. If that were the case, any litigant who didn’t like his or her judge could file a complaint and force a change. That simply wouldn’t work.

  4. I went to court for a pendente life relief on my divorce and before entereing the court room my lawyer told me that my husband had an offer that I should take. My lawyer was not straight forward in his answers to my questions regarding the offer but advice me to take or risk going inside the court room and have the judge ordered me to pay more. We have 3 children and Iam unemployed since 3 months ago. I agreed in a rush and to my attorney’s advise and after discussing the outcome with family member and friends they told me that when the other party offer a settlement outside the court room it usually means I had the winning chances.
    Now I don’t feel that what I agreed on was fair and that my laywer rushed me into it without clarifying the details. Also I found out the was an error on the child support and alimony calculations by my lawyer since he use the net income instead of the gross from my husband to do the calculations and the amount is sustanciallly less.
    Can the pendente lite order be ammendent or revoked?..

  5. My guess is no. If the judge allowed every party who had second thoughts about settlements to change them, it would make it almost impossible to manage the court’s workflow. However, it never hurts to check with an experienced divorce lawyer in your area to make sure.

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