(PC) Harris v. California Forensic Medical Group ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ANTOINE W. HARRIS, No. 2:19-cv-2020 DB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 CALIFORNIA FORENSIC MEDICAL GROUP, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a former Solano county inmate proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has 18 requested appointment of counsel. (ECF No. 2). In support of the motion, plaintiff states in part 19 that the issues in this case are complex and will require significant research and investigation. 20 (See id.). Plaintiff also states that he has no access to a law library and that he has limited 21 knowledge of the law. (See id.). 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 district court may request the 25 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 26 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 27 //// 28 2 EVE RP MUVUETOCTI PO eer PAY ev 1 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff's 2 | likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 3 | light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 4 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 5 || common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 6 | establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 7 | counsel. For these reasons, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for the appointment of 9 | counsel (ECF No. 2) is DENIED. 10 || Dated: October 1, 2020 12 B ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 | piB:13 DB/ORDERS/ORDERS.PRISONER.CIVIL RIGHTS /harr2020.31 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28