Case Name: Michelle Catherine THEER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Administrator Annie HARVEY, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2011-04-20
Citations: 424 F. App'x 231
Docket Number: No. 10-7437
Parties: Michelle Catherine THEER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Administrator Annie HARVEY, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before SHEDD, DUNCAN, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 424
Pages: 231–232

Head Matter:
Michelle Catherine THEER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Administrator Annie HARVEY, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 10-7437.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: April 5, 2011.
Decided: April 20, 2011.
Michelle Catherine Theer, Appellant Pro Se. Mary Carla Hollis, Assistant Attorney General, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Before SHEDD, DUNCAN, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Michelle Catherine Theer seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on her 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2006). A certificate of appeal-ability will not issue absent "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating 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, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (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 constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85, 120 S.Ct. 1595. We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Theer has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
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.
DISMISSED.