(PC) Farha v. Foss ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MAUWAI FARHA, No. 2:20-cv-2206 KJM KJN P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 T. FOSS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se, in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. 18 § 1983. Plaintiff requests that the court appoint counsel for purposes of the October 5, 2021 19 settlement conference. District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent 20 prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). 21 In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily represent such a 22 plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); 23 Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When determining whether 24 “exceptional circumstances” exist, the court must consider plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the 25 merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity 26 of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (district court 27 did not abuse discretion in declining to appoint counsel). The burden of demonstrating 28 exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to most prisoners, such 1 | as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional 2 || circumstances that warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 3 Having considered the factors under Palmer, the court finds that plaintiff failed to meet his 4 | burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances warranting the appointment of counsel at this 5 || time. 6 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for the appointment of 7 || counsel (ECF No. 35) is denied without prejudice. 8 || Dated: October 4, 2021 ° /farh2206.3 1 Frees Aharon 10 KENDALL J. NE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28