(PC) Harbor v. CDCR ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TRAVYON C. HARBOR, No. 2:19-cv-0384-EFB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 CDCR, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. He has filed a request for appointment of counsel and “for joinder of claims.” 19 As to the request for appointment of counsel, district courts lack authority to require 20 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. 21 Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney 22 to voluntarily to represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 23 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 24 When determining whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the court must consider the 25 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro 26 se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 27 (9th Cir. 2009). Having considered those factors, the court finds there are no exceptional 28 circumstances in this case. wOAOe 2 fh VYEYOT RT BP MMVUETOCTIL Aor Pe Ve te eV 1 Plaintiffs also seeks “‘joinder of claims.” The court has addressed the issue of improper 2 || joinder in its two prior screening orders and granted plaintiff leave to file a second amended 3 || complaint. See ECF Nos. 6, 12. If and when plaintiff files a second amended complaint, the 4 | court will issue a third screening order and revisit the issue of joinder, if appropriate. 5 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s request for appointment of 6 || counsel (ECF No. 13) is denied. The Clerk is directed to terminate ECF No. 13. 7 | DATED: May 21, 2020. tid. HDeMA 9 EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28