Lorenzo Watkins v. Warden ( 2013 )

Case: 12-13968 Date Filed: 02/28/2013 Page: 1 of 2
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 12-13968
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 5:11-cv-01528-LSC-TMP
LORENZO WATKINS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
WARDEN,
LLOYD WALLACE,
Captain,
DERWIN HALBROOKS,
Lieutenant,
CORRECTION OFFICERS AT LIMESTONE
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Alabama
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(February 28, 2013)
Case: 12-13968 Date Filed: 02/28/2013 Page: 2 of 2
Before WILSON, PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Lorenzo Watkins, an Alabama prisoner, appeals pro se the dismissal of his
complaint against Warden Lloyd Wallace and other officers at the Limestone
Correctional Facility. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court dismissed Watkins’s
complaint as frivolous. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). We affirm.
The district court did not err by dismissing Watkins’s complaint. Watkins’s
complaint is barred by res judicata. See Green v. Jefferson Cnty. Comm’n, 563
F.3d 1243, 1252 (11th Cir. 2009). An Alabama court earlier entered a summary
judgment against Watkins’s same complaint that the same defendants violated his
constitutional rights, and the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals affirmed that
judgment, Watkins v. Mitchem, 97 So. 3d 815 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011). Watkins
argues that res judicata does not bar his federal complaint, but under Alabama law
“[a] summary judgment acts as a judgment on the merits,” Ex parte Jefferson
Cnty., 656 So. 2d 382, 385 (Ala. 1995). The district court also lacked subject
matter jurisdiction to review the judgment of the state court. See Exxon Mobil
Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 125 S. Ct. 1517 (2005); D.C. Ct.
of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S. Ct. 1303 (1983); Rooker v. Fid. Trust
Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S. Ct. 149 (1923).
We AFFIRM the dismissal of Watkins’s complaint.
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