Case Name: John E. McLAURIN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Mount Olive Correctional Complex; Thomas L. McBride, Warden; Howard Painter, Respondents-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2010-07-02
Citations: 387 F. App'x 331
Docket Number: No. 09-8240
Parties: John E. McLAURIN, Petitioner—Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Mount Olive Correctional Complex; Thomas L. McBride, Warden; Howard Painter, Respondents—Appellees.
Judges: Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 387
Pages: 331–332

Head Matter:
John E. McLAURIN, Petitioner—Appellant, v. David BALLARD, Warden, Mount Olive Correctional Complex; Thomas L. McBride, Warden; Howard Painter, Respondents—Appellees.
No. 09-8240.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: June 22, 2010.
Decided: July 2, 2010.
John E. McLaurin, Appellant pro se. Barbara Harrison Allen, Assistant Attorney General, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellees.
Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
John E. McLaurin seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition. The order is not appeal-able unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (2006). A certificate of ap-pealability 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 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 McLaurin has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appeala-bility 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.