(PC) Farha v. Foss ( 2023 )

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 FOSS, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 18 Plaintiff apologizes for the delay in opposing the motion to dismiss but claims the inmate that was 19 helping him transferred to another prison. Plaintiff requests that the court appoint counsel. 20 District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 21 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional 22 circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily represent such a plaintiff. See 28 23 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 24 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When determining whether “exceptional 25 circumstances” exist, the court must consider plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits as 26 well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 27 legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (district court did not 28 abuse discretion in declining to appoint counsel). The burden of demonstrating exceptional 1 | circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of 2 || legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that 3 || warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 4 Having considered the factors under Palmer, the court finds that plaintiff failed to meet his 5 || burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances warranting the appointment of counsel at this 6 || time. However, plaintiff is granted an additional thirty days to file an opposition to the pending 7 || motion to dismiss. No further extensions of time will be granted. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 9 1. Plaintiff's motion for the appointment of counsel (ECF No. 71) is denied without 10 || prejudice; and 11 2. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of this order in which to file an opposition 12 || to the August 1, 2023 motion to dismiss. No further extensions of time will be granted. 13 || Dated: November 21, 2023 i Aectl Aharon 15 KENDALL J. NE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 || ‘tarh2206.36.3 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28