The following excerpt is from McFearson v. Harrington, 1:09-CV-02240 DLB HC (E.D. Cal. 2011):
A state prisoner seeking a writ of habeas corpus has no absolute entitlement to appeal a district court's denial of his petition, and an appeal is only allowed in certain circumstances. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336 (2003). The controlling statute in determining whether to issue a certificate of appealability is 28 U.S.C. 2253, which provides that a circuit judge or judge may issue a certificate of appealability where "the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." Where the court denies a habeas petition, the court may only issue a certificate of appealability "if jurists of reason could disagree with the district court's resolution of
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