Case Name: Samuel GRIFFIN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ms. RANSOM, Respondent-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2017-10-18
Citations: 699 F. App'x 180
Docket Number: No. 17-6710
Parties: Samuel GRIFFIN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ms. RANSOM, Respondent-Appellee.
Judges: Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 699
Pages: 180–180

Head Matter:
Samuel GRIFFIN, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ms. RANSOM, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 17-6710
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: October 13, 2017
Decided: October 18, 2017
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:16-hc-02149-FL)
Samuel Griffin, Appellant Pro Se. Jess D. Mekeel, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and AGEE, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Samuel Griffin seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing as untimely his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2012) petition. The order is not appealable unlegs a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of ap-pealability. 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 Griffin 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 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