(PC) Lavery v. Dhillon ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOSEPH LAVERY, No. 2:13-cv-2083 MCE AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 B. DHILLON, et al. 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel to assist him with opposing defendant 18 Dhillon’s motion for summary judgment. ECF No. 214. In the motion, plaintiff also informs the 19 court of a change of address. Presumably as a result of the move, he does not have access to the 20 legal documents he needs to respond to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. See generally 21 id. at 1. 22 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 23 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 24 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the court may request the voluntary 25 assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 26 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 27 In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 28 Plaintiff’s request for the appointment of counsel will therefore be denied. The court will, 1 | however, also construe plaintiff’ motion as a request for an of time to file his opposition to 2 | defendant’s motion for summary judgment. That request will be granted. 3 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 4 1. Plaintiffs request for the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 214) is DENIED; and 5 2. Plaintiff shall have thirty days from the date of this order within which to file his 6 || opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Failure to file an opposition within the 7 | time allotted may result in a recommendation that defendant’s motion for summary judgment be 8 || granted. 9 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall re-serve the following 10 || documents on plaintiff at his new address: 11 1. The court’s service order dated December 24, 2014 (ECF No. 36), and 12 2. The court’s March 2, 2020 order directing plaintiff to file an opposition to defendant 13 || Dhillon’s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 212). 14 | DATED: March 9, 2020 ~ 19 Chthien—Chare ALLISON CLAIRE 16 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28