Opinion
21-6601
07-23-2021
ANTHONY MAURICE SMALLS, Petitioner - Appellant, v. JEFFREY NINES, Warden; THE STATE OF MARYLAND, Respondents - Appellees.
Anthony Maurice Smalls, Appellant Pro Se.
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: July 20, 2021
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. James K. Bredar, Chief District Judge. (1:21-cv-00458-JKB)
Anthony Maurice Smalls, Appellant Pro Se.
Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM
Anthony Maurice Smalls see ks to appeal the district court's orders denying relief on his Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e) motions and dismissing as successive his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. The orders are 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 Smalls 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