Case Name: John Roosevelt BACCUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee, and The State, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2011-11-18
Citations: 453 F. App'x 391
Docket Number: No. 11-7277
Parties: John Roosevelt BACCUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee, and The State, Respondent.
Judges: Before NIEMEYER and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 453
Pages: 391–392

Head Matter:
John Roosevelt BACCUS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Leroy CARTLEDGE, Warden of McCormick Correctional Institution, Respondent-Appellee, and The State, Respondent.
No. 11-7277.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Submitted: Nov. 15, 2011.
Decided: Nov. 18, 2011.
John Roosevelt Baccus, Appellant Pro Se.
Before NIEMEYER and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
Dismissed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
John Roosevelt Baccus seeks to appeal the district court's order accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition as successive. The order is not ap-pealable 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. 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 Baccus 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.