Rochelle Driessen v. 11th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Dade County, Florida Juvenile Division, No. 12-14127 (11th Cir. 2013)
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Case: 12-14127 Date Filed: 07/01/2013 Page: 1 of 2 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 12-14127 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:12-cv-22628-DLG ROCHELLE DRIESSEN, mother of minor children B.O. D/O/B 1993 and B.O. D/O/B/ 1994, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus 11TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT IN AND FOR DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA JUVENILE DIVISION, Defendant-Appellee. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (July 1, 2013) Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 12-14127 Date Filed: 07/01/2013 Page: 2 of 2 Rochelle Driessen, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court s sua sponte dismissal on frivolity grounds of her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint against the Juvenile Division for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for Dade County, Florida ( Juvenile Division ). Construing Driessen s complaint liberally, she alleges that the Juvenile Division violated her due process rights by failing to provide her with notice of a 2007 hearing terminating her parental rights and placing her children in a permanent guardianship, and by later failing to terminate jurisdiction over her children. On appeal, Driessen argues that the district court erred in dismissing her case for frivolousness on the ground that it was barred by res judicata. We take judicial notice that the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial District of Florida is part of Florida s state court system. Title V of the Florida Constitution, entitled Judicial Branch, provides in § 25.382, State Courts System, that (1) As used in this section, state courts system means all officers, employees, and divisions of the Supreme Court, district courts of appeal, circuit courts, and county courts. The Juvenile Division, is one of the Circuit Court s divisions, like the Civil Division, and Criminal Division, and is presided over by one or more Circuit Judges. Because the court is part of the state court system, it is entitled to sovereign immunity. AFFIRMED. 2
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