**UN PUBLISHED** 
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

**No. 12**  **- 6815** 

TERRANCE L. JAMES

- BEY, Sovereign , Petitioner

– Appellant ,
v. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA; NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; UNITED STATES CORPORATION , Respondents

- Appellees
.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina , at Asheville
. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief District Judge. ( 1:11

- cv - 00136

- RJC )

Submitted : August 16, 2012 Decided: August 21, 2012

Before KING and THACKER , Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by un published per curiam opinion
. Terrance Lamount James, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.2 PER CURIAM:
Terrance James

- Bey seeks to appeal the district
court ’ s order s denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition and denying a certificate of appealability. He also seeks to appeal the district court’s order treating h is Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion as a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition, and dismissing it on that basis. The order s are not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (A) (2006) . A certificate of appealability will not issue absent “ a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. ” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2006)
. When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrati ng that reasonable jurists would find that the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel , 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see Miller

- El v. Cockrell , 537 U.S. 322, 336

- 38 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitut ional right. Slack , 529 U.S. at 484

- 85.3 We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that James

- Bey has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. Additionally, we construe Ja mes - Bey’s informal brief as an application to file a second or successive § 2254 petition. United States v. Winestock , 340 F.3d 200, 208 (4th Cir. 2003). In order to obtain authorization to file a successive § 2254 petition, a prisoner must assert claims based on either: (1) a new rule of constitutional law, previously unavailable, made retroactive by the Supreme Court to cases on collateral review; or (2) newly discovered evidence, not previously discoverable by due diligence, that would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that, but for constitutional error, no reasonable factfinder would have found the petitioner guilty of the offense. 28 U.S.C.
§ 2244(b)(2) (2006). James

- Bey’s claims do not satisfy either of these criteria. Th erefore, we deny authorization to file a successive § 2254 petition. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSE D