(PC) Hernandez v. Mule Creek State Prison ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 PABLO HERNANDEZ, No. 2:20-cv-1115 CKD P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 MULE CREEK STATE PRISON, 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has filed a motion for extension of time to file an amended complaint. Good 18 cause appearing, plaintiff’s motion will be granted. 19 Plaintiff requests that the court appoint 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 represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 23 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 plaintiff’s 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) (district court did not abuse discretion in declining to appoint counsel). The 28 burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances wOAOe 2 EUV VE EEO NE MMU Pa eer PAY eI 1 | common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 2 | establish exceptional circumstances that warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 3 Having considered the factors under Palmer, the court finds that plaintiff has failed to 4 | meet his burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances warranting the appointment of 5 | counsel at this time. 6 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 7 1. Plaintiffs motion for an extension of time (ECF No. 10) is granted; 8 2. Plaintiff is granted 60 days from the date of this order in which to file his amended 9 | complaint; and 10 3. Plaintiff's request for the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 10) is denied. 11 | Dated: July 29, 2020 Gh rd □ | Gx 12 CAROLYN K DELANEY 13 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 | insy hem 1115.36+31 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28