It’s not every day that you see a petition for a writ a mandamus.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, mandamus (Latin for “we commend”) is
a writ issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties.
(Probably the most famous case involving a writ of mandamus is Marbury v. Madison which established the precedent for “judicial review.”)
Here in Massachusetts, courts may issue a writ of mandamus only “in the absence of an alternative remedy…[and] to compel a public official to perform an act which the official has a legal duty to perform.” See Lutheran Serv. Ass’n of New England, Inc. v. Metropolitan Dist. Comm’n, 397 Mass. 341, 344 (1986).
In 2022, Quantreil Laura allegedly failed to appear for a pretrial hearing at Worcester District Court where he was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
For failing to appear, the district court judge issued a default warrant for Laura’s arrest.
Laura probably could have simply gone to the courthouse and had the warrant cancelled. Instead, he filed (pro se) a petition for a writ a mandamus with the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC).
Laura asked the SJC to compel the district court judge to withdraw the warrant.
The SJC, unsurprisingly, denied the petition.
According to the SJC,
Relief in the nature of mandamus is extraordinary and may be granted only to prevent a failure of justice in instances where there is no alternative remedy. Mandamus relief is not appropriate where a petitioner seeks to compel actions that are discretionary rather than ministerial in nature. Accordingly, mandamus will not issue to direct a judicial officer to make a particular decision or to review, or reverse, a decision made by a judicial officer on an issue properly before him or her. As a general matter, the decision to declare a default or to lift a default is . . . left to the discretion of the judge. Accordingly, because the decision to default Laura and issue a warrant was discretionary in nature, relief in the nature of mandamus is not appropriate. (Citations and quotations omitted.)
The full text of the opinion is attached below.