(PC) Ruiz v. Shearer ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ROGELIO MAY RUIZ, No. 2:20-cv-2078 TLN DB P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 D. WOODFILL, 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 states that he has difficulty with the English language and has 18 no experience with the law. 19 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 20 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 21 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 22 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 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 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 25 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 26 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 27 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 28 common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 1 | establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 2 | counsel. In the present case, the court does not find the required exceptional circumstances at this 3 | time. This court recommended plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis be denied because 4 | plaintiff has accrued three strikes under the in forma pauperis statute. Accordingly, until the 5 | motion to proceed in forma pauperis is resolved, any appointment of counsel would be premature. 6 For these reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for the appointment 7 | of counsel (ECF No. 11) is denied. 8 | Dated: January 4, 2021 Vlad” 10 ll ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | DLB:9 DB/prisoner-civil rights/ruiz2078.31 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28