Brian Scott v. Harold Clarke, No. 19-7239 (4th Cir. 2020)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 19-7239 BRIAN JEROME SCOTT, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. HAROLD W. CLARKE, Director Virginia Dept. of Corrections, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. M. Hannah Lauck, District Judge. (3:18-cv-00851-MHL) Submitted: March 10, 2020 Decided: March 17, 2020 Before WILKINSON, QUATTLEBAUM, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Brian Jerome Scott, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Brian Jerome Scott seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2018) petition as successive and unauthorized and he has filed a motion for a certificate of appealability. The district court’s order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2018). 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) (2018). 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 Scott has failed to make the requisite showing. Accordingly, we deny Scott’s motion for 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
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