Court Opinion

ID: 9365154
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-21 21:00:52.05895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:43.474120
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 22-7171      Doc: 9         Filed: 01/20/2023    Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                                No. 22-7171

        JARREL LEE JOHNSON,

                             Petitioner - Appellant,

                      v.

        UNNAMED RESPONDENT,

                             Respondent - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
        Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:22-hc-02148-FL-RJ)

        Submitted: January 17, 2023                                       Decided: January 20, 2023

        Before KING and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Jarrel Lee Johnson, Appellant Pro Se.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 22-7171      Doc: 9         Filed: 01/20/2023      Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Jarrel Lee Johnson, a state prisoner, seeks to appeal the district court’s order

        dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition without prejudice. The order is not appealable

        unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability.         28 U.S.C.

        § 2253(c)(1)(A). 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). When the district court

        denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that

        reasonable jurists could find the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims

        debatable or wrong. See Buck v. Davis, 580 U.S. 100, 115-16 (2017). 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. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing

        Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

               We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Johnson has not

        made the requisite showing. The district court dismissed Johnson’s § 2241 petition without

        prejudice because it lacked jurisdiction to issue the writ. Proper jurisdiction is in the

        District of South Carolina, where Johnson is detained. Because Johnson had three pending

        § 2241 petitions in the District of South Carolina, transfer to that court was unwarranted.

        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 this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                       DISMISSED

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