(PC) Johnson v. Diaz ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 VANDELL JOHNSON, No. 2:22-cv-0606 DAD AC P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 RALPH DIAZ, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff has requested the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 41. The United States 17 Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent 18 prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In 19 certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of 20 counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 21 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 22 “When determining whether ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist, a court must consider ‘the 23 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims 24 pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.’” Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 25 970 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983)). The burden 26 of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. Id. Circumstances common to 27 most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish 28 exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. ] Plaintiff has requested counsel be appointed due to the rescheduling of the settlement 2 || conference at defendants’ request. ECF No. 41. Although the court understands plaintiffs 3 | frustration at having the settlement conference delayed, it does not establish the existence of 4 | extraordinary circumstances warranting the appointment of counsel. 5 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for the appointment of 6 || counsel (ECF No. 41) is DENIED. 7 | DATED: November 29, 2023 “. 8 Httven— Lhar—e_ ALLISON CLAIRE 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28