Case Name: Clifton STALLINGS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN OF EVANS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee, and Jon E. Ozmint, Director of SCDC, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2012-02-28
Citations: 468 F. App'x 309
Docket Number: No. 11-7463
Parties: Clifton STALLINGS, Petitioner—Appellant, v. WARDEN OF EVANS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent—Appellee, and Jon E. Ozmint, Director of SCDC, Respondent.
Judges: Before MOTZ, DAVIS, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 468
Pages: 309–309

Head Matter:
Clifton STALLINGS, Petitioner—Appellant, v. WARDEN OF EVANS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent—Appellee, and Jon E. Ozmint, Director of SCDC, Respondent.
No. 11-7463.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Feb. 23, 2012.
Decided: Feb. 28, 2012.
Clifton Stallings, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, William Edgar Salter, III, Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before MOTZ, DAVIS, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Clifton Stallings seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) 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) (2006). 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) (2006). 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. 822, 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 Stallings 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 the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED.