Paul Walde v. Sharon Keri

── Paul Walde v. Sharon Keri ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 01, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-14012 Document: 9-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 1 of 7 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-14012 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ PAUL DONOVAN WALDE, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus SHARON KERI, Defendant-Appellee. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:25-cv-00259-RH-MJF ____________________ Before ABUDU, KIDD, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Paul Walde, proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s determination that claim preclusion barred his complaint challeng- ing the constitutionality of Florida’s suspension of his commercial USCA11 Case: 25-14012 Document: 9-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 2 of 7 2 Opinion of the Court 25-14012 driver’s license and garnishment of his wages due to his failure to comply with his child support obligations. After careful review, we find no error in the district court’s dismissal order and affirm. I. BACKGROUND In September 2025, Walde filed the instant suit against Sha- ron Keri, a process manager for the Florida Department of Reve- nue, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. He alleged that Keri directed the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend his commercial driver’s license and in- structed his employer to garnish his wages because of his failure to pay child support. Walde indicated that his license was ultimately reinstated in March 2023, but the wage garnishment was still in ef- fect at the time of the filing of the complaint. Walde argued that his license suspension and wage garnishment violated his rights to pro- cedural and substantive due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, and the wage garnishment amounted to an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amend- ments. This case is not the first time that Walde has challenged the constitutionality of Keri’s actions. Indeed, Walde had previously filed suit in the Northern District of Florida against Keri and a “John Doe” defendant in September 2023. We will refer to that case as Walde I. The operative complaint in Walde I alleged, in relevant part, due process violations under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amend- ments, as well as Sixth Amendment violations, all related to the USCA11 Case: 25-14012 Document: 9-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 3 of 7 25-14012 Opinion of the Court 3 same 2022 license suspension and wage garnishment. The district court dismissed the complaint in Walde I with prejudice for failure to state a claim. Following the district court’s denial of several post- judgment motions, Walde appealed the dismissal of his complaint to our Court, but we dismissed his appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See Walde v. Keri, No. 24-11631, slip op. at 2 (11th Cir. July 3, 2024). Because Walde was granted leave to proceed in forma pau- peris in the instant case, a magistrate judge sua sponte screened the complaint for frivolity pursuant to 28 U