(PC)Haggerty v. Lynch ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 LEE E. HAGGERTY, No. 2:21-cv-1248 DJC AC P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 JEFF LYNCH, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 32. The United States 18 Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent 19 prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In 20 certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of 21 counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 22 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 23 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 24 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 25 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 26 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 27 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to 28 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 1 | exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 2 Plaintiff requests appointment of counsel on the grounds that his complaint was drafted by 3 || another inmate and he is ignorant of the law and illiterate. ECF No. 32 at 3. However, these 4 || circumstances are common to many prisoners and do not establish the existence of extraordinary 5 || circumstances. Furthermore, this case is currently stayed pending the settlement conference 6 || scheduled for June 28, 2023, and there is no indication that plaintiff is unable to represent himself 7 || at the settlement conference. For these reasons, the motion for appointment of counsel will be 8 | denied. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for the appointment of 10 || counsel (ECF No. 32) is DENIED. 11 | DATED: June 6, 2023 ~ 12 AMten—Clone ALLISON CLAIRE 13 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28