Case Name: Terrance Malcom TOMPKINS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN, WALDEN/STEVENSON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2017-02-28
Citations: 678 F. App'x 128
Docket Number: No. 16-7405
Parties: Terrance Malcom TOMPKINS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN, WALDEN/STEVENSON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before SHEDD and DIAZ, Circuit Judges,, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 678
Pages: 128–129

Head Matter:
Terrance Malcom TOMPKINS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. WARDEN, WALDEN/STEVENSON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 16-7405
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: February 23, 2017
Decided: February 28, 2017
Terrance Malcom Tompkins, Appellant Pro Se. Donald John Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, James Anthony Mabry, Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Before SHEDD and DIAZ, Circuit Judges,, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Terrance Malcolm Tompkins 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 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 Tompkins has not made the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability, deny leave to proceed in forma pauper- is, 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