Case Name: Louis GAINEY, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Leroy CARTLEDGE, Respondent-Appellee, and Attorney General Alan Wilson, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2017-02-22
Citations: 677 F. App'x 127
Docket Number: No. 16-7491
Parties: Louis GAINEY, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Leroy CARTLEDGE, Respondent-Appellee, and Attorney General Alan Wilson, Respondent.
Judges: Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, DUNCAN, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 677
Pages: 127–128

Head Matter:
Louis GAINEY, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. Warden Leroy CARTLEDGE, Respondent-Appellee, and Attorney General Alan Wilson, Respondent.
No. 16-7491
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: February 16, 2017
Decided: February 22, 2017
Louis Gainey, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Su-sannah Rawl Cole, Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina, Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, DUNCAN, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Louis Gainey, Jr., 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 (2012) petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). A certifícate of appealability will not issue absent "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (2012). 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 Gainey 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 this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED