Case Name: Isiah JAMES, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN RIDGELAND CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee, and Jon Ozmint, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2017-04-24
Citations: 685 F. App'x 293
Docket Number: No. 16-7692
Parties: Isiah JAMES, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN RIDGELAND CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee, and Jon Ozmint, Respondent.
Judges: Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 685
Pages: 293–294

Head Matter:
Isiah JAMES, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN RIDGELAND CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee, and Jon Ozmint, Respondent.
No. 16-7692
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: April 20, 2017
Decided: April 24, 2017
Isiah James, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Tommy Evans, Jr., SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PROBATION, PAROLE & PARDON SERVICE, Columbia, South Carolina; Donald John Zelenka, Deputy Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Isiah James, Jr., seeks to appeal the district court's order denying his Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for reconsideration of 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); Reid v. Angelone, 369 F.3d 363, 369 (4th Cir. 2004). 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 James has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauperis, and dismiss the appeal. We deny James' motion to stay and 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