Background
The district court granted an exception of no right of action filed by Warden Trent Barton, Captain John Orr, and the State of Louisiana through the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and Louisiana State Penitentiary. Its February 23, 2026 judgment dismissed the plaintiff’s claims against those defendants.
Although the appellate caption identifies Parrish Newman, the opinion states that Gregory Sanford applied for supervisory writs and identifies Sanford as the plaintiff. Sanford filed a pleading notifying the district court that he intended to seek supervisory review of the dismissal.
The Court’s Holding
The First Circuit held that the judgment granting the exception and dismissing the plaintiff’s claims was an appealable judgment under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1915(A)(1).
The court granted the writ for the limited purpose of remanding the case with instructions to treat the plaintiff’s writ-notice pleading as supporting an appeal and to grant that appeal. It also ordered that a copy of its order be included in the appellate record. The court did not decide the merits of the exception or the underlying claims.
Key Takeaways
- A judgment granting an exception of no right of action and dismissing claims is immediately appealable under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1915(A)(1).
- When a litigant seeks supervisory review of an appealable judgment, the filing may be used to preserve and grant an appeal.
- The writ disposition addressed only the proper avenue of appellate review, not whether dismissal of the claims was correct.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces that Louisiana courts should preserve appellate review when a litigant mistakenly seeks a supervisory writ from an appealable judgment. Rather than deny review solely because of the procedural vehicle selected, the court remanded with instructions to grant an appeal.