Court Opinion

ID: 4419258
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2019-07-23 19:00:21.813148+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:47.121848
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

                       UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                      No. 19-6607

JAMES CALHOUN-EL,

                    Petitioner - Appellant,

             v.

ALLEN GANG, Warden; JESSUP CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION,

                    Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
Richard D. Bennett, District Judge. (1:19-cv-00777-RDB)

Submitted: July 18, 2019                                          Decided: July 23, 2019

Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

James A. Calhoun-El, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

       James A. Calhoun-El seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his Fed. R.

Civ. P. 60(b)(6) motion for relief from the judgment dismissing 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); Reid v. Angelone, 369

F.3d 363, 369 (4th Cir. 2004), abrogated in part on other grounds by United States v.

McRae, 793 F.3d 392, 400 & n.7 (4th Cir. 2015). 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 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (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.

       We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Calhoun-El 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

                                             2