Case Name: Marvin Lamont DORSEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Bobby P. SHEARIN, Warden; The Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents-Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2015-10-09
Citations: 619 F. App'x 222
Docket Number: No. 15-6341
Parties: Marvin Lamont DORSEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Bobby P. SHEARIN, Warden; The Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents-Appellees.
Judges: Before GREGORY and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 619
Pages: 222–222

Head Matter:
Marvin Lamont DORSEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Bobby P. SHEARIN, Warden; The Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Respondents-Appellees.
No. 15-6341.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Sept. 28, 2015.
Decided: Oct. 9, 2015.
Before GREGORY and SHEDD, 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Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:
Marvin Lamont Dorsey seeks to appeal the district court's order 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 ap-pealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012). 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) (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 Dorsey has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny as moot Dorsey's application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, 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.