Marcus Dixon v. Director of Department of Corr
Marcus Dixon v. Director of Department of Corr
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 21-7016
MARCUS LE’SHAWN DIXON,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
DIRECTOR OF DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. Henry E. Hudson, Senior District Judge. (3:21-cv-00114-HFH)
Submitted: November 18, 2021 Decided: November 22, 2021
Before MOTZ, THACKER, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Marcus Le’Shawn Dixon, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Marcus Le’Shawn Dixon seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his Fed.
R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion for relief from the district court’s prior order dismissing his
28 U.S.C. § 2254petition as successive and unauthorized. 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); see generally United States v. McRae,
793 F.3d 393, 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). 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, 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 Dixon has not made
the requisite showing. See In re Dixon, No. 21-154 (4th Cir. Apr. 28, 2021) (unpublished
order). Accordingly, we deny Dixon’s motion for 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
2
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished