Opinion
22-6137
08-25-2022
MARK FRENCH, Petitioner - Appellant, v. OFFICER MICHAEL BIVENS; MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondents - Appellees.
Mark French, Appellant Pro Se.
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: August 23, 2022
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Catherine C. Blake, Senior District Judge. (1:21-cv-02736-CCB)
Mark French, Appellant Pro Se.
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, HEYTENS, Circuit Judge, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM
Mark French seeks to appeal the district court's order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition as an unauthorized, successive § 2254 petition. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 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, as here, 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 French 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 this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
[*] To the extent that French wishes to obtain authorization from this court to file a successive § 2254 petition, he may file such a motion directly in this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244.