From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Hackley v. Clarke

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Sep 9, 2021
No. 20-6324 (4th Cir. Sep. 9, 2021)

Opinion

20-6324

09-09-2021

DOMINIQUE ALEXANDER HACKLEY, Petitioner - Appellant, v. HAROLD W. CLARKE, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, Respondent - Appellee.

Dominique Alexander Hackley, Appellant Pro Se.


UNPUBLISHED

Submitted: August 31, 2021

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:18-cv-01451-LMB-TCB)

Dominique Alexander Hackley, Appellant Pro Se.

Before WILKINSON and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and SHEDD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM

Dominique Alexander Hackley seeks to appeal the district court's order denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 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 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, 137 S.Ct. 759, 773-74 (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 Hackley 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


Summaries of

Hackley v. Clarke

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Sep 9, 2021
No. 20-6324 (4th Cir. Sep. 9, 2021)
Case details for

Hackley v. Clarke

Case Details

Full title:DOMINIQUE ALEXANDER HACKLEY, Petitioner - Appellant, v. HAROLD W. CLARKE…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Date published: Sep 9, 2021

Citations

No. 20-6324 (4th Cir. Sep. 9, 2021)