UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

_____________________

No. 97-30436 Summary Calendar _____________________

LARRY LOFTON,

Petitioner-Appellant,

versus

BURL CAIN, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary; RICHARD P. IEYOUB, Attorney General, State of Louisiana,

Respondents-Appellees.

_________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (96-CV-3635-E) _________________________________________________________________ December 15, 1997 Before WIENER, BARKSDALE, and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Louisiana prisoner Larry Lofton, # 99305, appeals the district

court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under

. Of course, we must examine the issue of subject

matter jurisdiction on our own motion if necessary. Giannakos v.

M/V BRAVO TRADER,

(5th Cir. 1985). Lofton’s

appeal is from the district court’s resolution of the merits of the

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. claims he raised in a second, or successive, habeas petition. But,

the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA),

Stat. 1214 (1996), requires that a prisoner

seeking to file such a petition first obtain an order from this

court authorizing the district court to consider such a petition.

See

(3)(A). Because Lofton did not obtain such

permission from this court, the district court was without

jurisdiction to entertain the petition. See

Accordingly, the

judgment is VACATED and the case is REMANDED to the district court

with instructions to dismiss the petition.

VACATED and REMANDED, WITH INSTRUCTIONS