United States of America v. Swain Clarke, a/k/a Swain Clark

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-7286
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SWAIN CLARKE, a/k/a Swain Clark,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
James K. Bredar, Chief District Judge. (1:15-cr-00503-JKB-1; 1:19-cv-00815-JKB)
Submitted: January 17, 2023 Decided: January 20, 2023
Before KING and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Swain Clarke, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Swain Clarke appeals the district court’s order construing his Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)
motion for relief from judgment as an unauthorized, successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion
and dismissing it without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.∗ Our review of the record
confirms that the district court properly construed Clarke’s Rule 60(b) motion as a
successive § 2255 motion over which it lacked jurisdiction because he failed to obtain
prefiling authorization from this court. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 2244(b)(3)(A), 2255(h); McRae,
793 F.3d at 397-400. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order.
Consistent with our decision in United States v. Winestock, 340 F.3d 200, 208
(4th Cir. 2003), we construe Clarke’s notice of appeal and informal brief as an application
to file a second or successive § 2255 motion. Upon review, we conclude that Clarke’s
claim does not meet the relevant standard. See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). We therefore deny
authorization to file a successive § 2255 motion.
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.
AFFIRMED
∗ A certificate of appealability is not required to appeal the district court’s
jurisdictional categorization of a Rule 60(b) motion as an unauthorized, successive § 2255
motion. United States v. McRae, 793 F.3d 392, 400 (4th Cir. 2015).

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