(PC) Washington v. Sexton ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JAMIEN WASHINGTON, Case No. 1:18-cv-0513-DAD-JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONS TO APPOINT COUNSEL 13 v. (Docs. 36, 46) 14 M. SEXTON, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. However, district courts lack authority 18 to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. 19 Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). Only in exceptional circumstances may the court request the 20 voluntary assistance of counsel for appointment. Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 21 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). The court does not find 22 the required exceptional circumstances to justify appointment in this case. The Court DENIES 23 Plaintiff’s motions to appoint counsel (Docs. 36, 46). 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 26 Dated: September 14, 2020 /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 27 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28