Background
Stephen James Kilpatrick sought to appeal a district court order dismissing his petition under twenty-eight U.S.C. section two thousand two hundred fifty-four as time barred. The district court applied the one-year statute of limitations under twenty-eight U.S.C. section two thousand two hundred forty-four.
The court’s reasoning
The court noted that an order dismissing a habeas petition as time barred is not appealable unless a certificate of appealability is issued. To obtain such a certificate, a prisoner must make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable and that the petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. The court independently reviewed the record and concluded Kilpatrick had not made this requisite showing.
What it means going forward
The dismissal prevents further appellate review of the underlying habeas petition’s merits due to the lack of a certificate of appealability.