(PC) Moore v. Hill ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 SIDNI ALFRED MOORE, No. 2:22-cv-0758 DJC AC P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER 13 RICK HILL, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested 17 appointment of counsel. ECF No. 9. In support of the motion, plaintiff states in part that he is 18 unable to afford an attorney; that his case is complex and will require significant research and 19 investigation; and that his imprisonment will affect his ability to litigate. Id. at 1 20 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require 21 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 22 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the 23 voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 24 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). 25 The test for exceptional circumstances requires the court to evaluate the plaintiff’s 26 likelihood of success on the merits and the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in 27 light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. See Wilborn v. Escalderon, 789 F.2d 1328, 28 1331 (9th Cir. 1986); Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Circumstances 1 | common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 2 || establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for voluntary assistance of 3 || counsel. 4 A general review of the complaint indicates that plaintiff has filled out the court’s form 5 || and supplemented it with supporting documentation. See generally ECF No. 1 In addition, 6 || plaintiffs claims are relatively easy to understand. For these reasons, the court does not find the 7 || required exceptional circumstances. 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for the appointment of 9 || counsel (ECF No. 9) is DENIED. 10 | DATED: September 27, 2023 Chthwen— Clare ALLISON CLAIRE 12 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28