Case Name: Kenneth Lovette YOUNG, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Corr. Inst., Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-12-14
Citations: 671 F. App'x 146
Docket Number: No. 16-6590
Parties: Kenneth Lovette YOUNG, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Corr. Inst., Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 671
Pages: 146–147

Head Matter:
Kenneth Lovette YOUNG, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Corr. Inst., Respondent-Appellee.
No. 16-6590
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: December 6, 2016
Decided: December 14, 2016
Kenneth Lovette Young, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Melody Jane Brown, Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Kenneth Lovette Young 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 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) (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 Young 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