(PC) Keeton v. Lynch ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 TOMMY ROY KEETON, No. 2:20-cv-2270-KJM-EFB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 JEFF LYNCH, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an 18 action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He requests that the 19 court appoint counsel. District courts lack authority to require 20 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. 21 Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). 22 In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney 23 to voluntarily to represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 24 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 25 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 26 1990). When determining whether “exceptional circumstances” 27 exist, the court must consider the likelihood of success on the 28 merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his 1 | claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues 2| involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). 3 | Having considered those factors, the court finds there are no 4 | exceptional circumstances in this case. 5 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's 6 | request for appointment of counsel (ECF No. 19) is denied. 7| Dated: March 21, 2022. □□ PDEA ? EDMUND F. BRENNAN 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28