Case Name: Joe Lee FULGHAM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jack BARBER, M.D., Interim Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2017-02-22
Citations: 677 F. App'x 139
Docket Number: No. 16-7687
Parties: Joe Lee FULGHAM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jack BARBER, M.D., Interim Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, DUNCAN, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 677
Pages: 139–139

Head Matter:
Joe Lee FULGHAM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Jack BARBER, M.D., Interim Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 16-7687
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: February 16, 2017
Decided: February 22, 2017
Joe Lee Fulgham, Appellant Pro- Se. Susan Mozley Harris, Assistant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, 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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:
Joe Lee Fulgham seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2264 (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 light." 28 U.S.C. § 2268(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 Fulgham has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal. We deny Fulgham's motions for release and for oral presentation. 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