(PC) Bouie v. Willox ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 DIRK JA’ONG BOUIE, Jr., No. 2:16-cv-0624 JAM AC P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 R. WILLOX, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 17 appointment of counsel. Plaintiff appears to be requesting relief from the Ninth Circuit regarding 18 an appeal of the judgment in the instant action. ECF No. 69. Plaintiff previously requested and 19 received an extension of time to file a notice of appeal, (ECF Nos. 67 & 68), but has not yet filed 20 a notice of appeal. 21 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 22 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 23 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 24 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 25 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 26 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 27 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 28 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 1 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 2 || common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 3 || establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 4 | counsel. In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances. 5 Moreover, any motion for appointment of counsel on appeal should be directed to the 6 || Court of Appeals. 7 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for the appointment of 8 || counsel (ECF No. 69) is denied. 9 || DATED: October 14, 2020 ' 1 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28