Robert James Crenshaw v. Darrly Ellis, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 9, 2026
Docket2:25-cv-00087
StatusUnknown

This text of Robert James Crenshaw v. Darrly Ellis, et al. (Robert James Crenshaw v. Darrly Ellis, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert James Crenshaw v. Darrly Ellis, et al., (M.D. Ala. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA NORTHERN DIVISION

ROBERT JAMES CRENSHAW, ) AIS # 188466, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CASE NO. 2:25-CV-87-WKW ) [WO] DARRLY ELLIS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Robert James Crenshaw, an inmate proceeding pro se, filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against five Defendants. (Doc. # 1.) On April 4, 2025, an Order directing Plaintiff to file an amended complaint was entered (“April 4 Order”). (Doc. # 11.) The April 4 Order identified the complaint’s deficiencies: First, although Plaintiff names five defendants, he has failed to state factual allegations regarding each of them. . . . Second, to the extent Plaintiff’s claims are based on events that occurred more than two years prior to the filing of this action, his claims are time-barred. . . . Finally, the Complaint currently constitutes an impermissible ‘shotgun pleading’ . . . . The Complaint in its current form here is replete with vague, immaterial, and seemingly unrelated facts that fail to give the defendants adequate notice of the claims against them and the grounds upon which each claim rests.

(Doc. # 11 at 1–3.) Thereafter, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint naming four Defendants in their official capacities: Mr. Nurse Darrly Ellis, Healthcare Director; Mr. Doctor Ike; Mr. Doctor Rahming; and Ms. Nurse Long. (Doc. # 15 at 2–3.) The amended complaint is before the court for screening under 28 U.S.C.

§ 1915(e)(2)(B). After careful consideration, Plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed with prejudice prior to service of process pursuant to § 1915(e)(2)(B). II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Plaintiff, a prisoner, is proceeding in forma pauperis (IFP). (Doc. # 5.) Under the IFP provisions of § 1915, any complaint filed is subject to mandatory court review. Section 1915 requires that the court dismiss a complaint, or any part of it, on its own initiative, if the allegations are frivolous or malicious, fail to state a claim

on which relief may be granted, or seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)–(iii). A complaint is subject to dismissal under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i)–(ii) “for both

frivolousness and failure to state a claim” if it “lacks even an arguable basis in law.” Toussaint v. U.S. Attorney’s Off., 2025 WL 2237376, at *3 (11th Cir. Aug. 6, 2025) (per curiam) (quoting Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 328 (1989)). A complaint lacks an arguable basis in law when it relies on “an indisputably meritless legal

theory.” Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327. Such claims include those where “it is clear that the defendants are immune from suit and claims of infringement of a legal interest which clearly does not exist.” Id. (citation omitted). On screening, the court may consider, sua sponte, affirmative defenses that are clear from the face of the complaint. Clark v. State of Ga. Pardons & Paroles Bd.,

915 F.2d 636, 640 & n.2 (11th Cir. 1990). “[I]f the district court sees that an affirmative defense would defeat the action, a section 1915[] dismissal is allowed.” Id. at 640. “Res judicata and collateral estoppel are . . . affirmative defenses which

justify dismissal of a claim as frivolous.” Id. at 640 n.2. Furthermore, “[t]he expiration of the statute of limitations serves as an affirmative defense, the existence of which warrants a dismissal as frivolous.” Reid v. Republic Bank & Tr., Inc., 805 F. App’x 915, 916 (11th Cir. 2020) (per curiam).

In 2021, the Eleventh Circuit noted that it “ha[d] not yet addressed the meaning of ‘malicious’ in § 1915A(b)(1) or its corollary, § 1915(e)(2)(B).” Daker v. Ward, 999 F.3d 1300, 1308 (11th Cir. 2021). The Daker court recognized that “[o]ther

circuits . . . have concluded that duplicative actions are properly dismissed as frivolous or malicious.” Id. (citing cases from the Fifth, Eighth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits). Agreeing with its sister Circuits, the court stated “that a plaintiff’s duplicative complaint is an abuse of the judicial process and is properly dismissed

without prejudice as malicious under the [Prison Litigation Reform Act].” Id. A complaint also must be dismissed at the statutory screening stage if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). This

review follows the same standard governing dismissals for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Douglas v. Yates, 535 F.3d 1316, 1320 (11th Cir. 2008). Hence, to state a claim upon which relief may

be granted, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). The

plausibility standard “asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. To meet the plausibility standard, the plaintiff must plead factual content that “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. The allegations should present a “plain

statement possessing enough heft to show that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557 (cleaned up). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal,

556 U.S. at 678. Pro se pleadings are liberally construed and held “to less stringent standards” than pleadings drafted by attorneys. Bilal v. Geo Care, LLC, 981 F.3d 903, 911 (11th Cir. 2020) (quoting Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007)). However, the

allegations still “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level,” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557. The court cannot “rewrite an otherwise deficient pleading [by a pro se litigant] in order to sustain an action.” GJR Invs. v. Escambia Cnty., 132 F.3d 1359, 1369 (11th Cir. 1998), overruled on other grounds by, Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662.

III. THE AMENDED COMPLAINT’S ALLEGATIONS The amended complaint’s allegations, construed in Plaintiff’s favor, set forth the following. Plaintiff alleges that, on September 18, 2020, he began experiencing

chest pains and went to the infirmary at Staton Correctional Facility. (Doc. # 15 at 5, 12.) This visit to the infirmary initiated a chain of events that Plaintiff confusingly lays out in nine pages of handwritten declarations. (See id. at 12–20.) Plaintiff asserts that, upon arrival to the infirmary with chest pains, weakness, and dizziness,

standard procedure should have been performing an EKG, faxing the results to a doctor, and letting that doctor determine whether the patient should be given any medication. Instead, Plaintiff alleges that he was given Tylenol and wheeled back to

the dorm with instructions to submit a sick-call request if he did not feel better. (Id.

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Robert James Crenshaw v. Darrly Ellis, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-james-crenshaw-v-darrly-ellis-et-al-almd-2026.