No. 25-7622October Term 2025Petition PendingUpdated Sep 3, 2026
Garry Artis Yarborough v. Leslie Cooley Dismukes
Case status
Where it stands
Awaiting an order on the petition
- Next
- No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.
What it's about
Garry Artis Yarborough asks the Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit’s denial of a certificate of appealability from the denial of his federal habeas petition. He argues that the court used a one-paragraph unpublished order without meaningfully applying the rule that a certificate should issue when reasonable jurists could debate the district court’s decision.
Question presented
Whether the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal ’ s departed from the "accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings," Supreme Court Rule 10 (a) in a manner warranting this Courts supervisory review, by denying a certificate of appealability (COA) in a one- paragraph, unpublished per curiam order that neither engaged Petitioner ’ s substantial constitutional questions and record evidence, thereby effectively applying a more stringent standard than that required by this Court ’ s precedents, nor applied this Court ’ s " relatively low" threshold requiring only that reasonable jurists could debate the district court ’ s resolution, as articulated in Miller- El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-37 (2003), Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000), and Buck v Davis, 580 U.S. 100 (201?
What happens next
The Court may decide whether to grant certiorari (the Court's decision to hear the case) or take another scheduling step. No decision window or oral-argument date has been set.
Why it matters
The case could affect prisoners seeking to appeal claims that their constitutional rights were violated. For example, a prisoner whose appeal is denied in a short order may have a clearer path to challenge whether the correct standard was used.
The petition raises concerns about appellate courts summarily denying certificates of appealability without meaningfully addressing whether constitutional claims are debatable.
Case file
- Docket
- 25-7622
- Status
- Petition Pending
- From
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Documents
- 1
Documents
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AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Brief added: Petition
More questions
- What is at stake in Yarborough v. Dismukes?
- The case concerns how courts decide whether a prisoner may appeal constitutional claims after a federal district court rejects them.
- Who could be affected by the Yarborough case?
- Prisoners seeking to appeal alleged constitutional violations could be affected, especially when an appeals court denies permission to appeal in a brief order.
- What happens next in Yarborough v. Dismukes?
- The Supreme Court will consider whether to take up the petition. It could grant review, deny review, or issue another scheduling order.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.