
    UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Patrick Jerome BOYD, a/k/a LD, Defendant-Appellant.
    No. 17-6778
    United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
    Submitted: October 31, 2017
    Decided: November 8, 2017
    Patrick Jerome Boyd, Appellant Pro Se. Steven R. Kaufman, William Michael Miller, Assistant United States Attorneys, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
    Before SHEDD, DUNCAN, and AGEE, Circuit fudges.
   Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Patrick Jerome Boyd seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motion to alter or amend its prior order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion as successive. The order is not appealable unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of ap-pealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (2012). 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) (2012). When the district court denies relief on the merits, a prisoner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that reasonable jurists would find that the district court’s assessment of the constitutional claims is debatable or wrong. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003). When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable, and that the motion states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484-85, 120 S.Ct. 1595.

We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that Boyd 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  