McGuire v. Nevada Department of Corrections ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 * * * 4 ROBERT MCGUIRE, Case No. 3:23-CV-00165-ART-CLB 5 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION AND 6 v. MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL 7 NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et. al., [ECF Nos. 12, 13] 8 Defendants. 9 10 Before the Court is Plaintiff Robert McGuire’s (“McGuire”) motion for class 11 certification, (ECF No. 12), and motion for appointment of counsel, (ECF No. 13). For 12 the reasons discussed below, the motions, (ECF Nos. 12, 13), are denied. 13 McGuire’s motions ask that the Court reconsider a prior order denying class 14 certification and appoint counsel to represent the class. (ECF Nos. 12, 13.) Specifically, 15 McGuire requests class action certification for all inmates housed in Unit 5 A/B at ESP 16 in August 2020 and all inmates transferred from Unit 5 A/B to Unit 3 A/B at HDSP. As 17 the Court previously explained, pro se litigants have the right to plead and conduct their 18 own cases personally. See 28 U.S.C. § 1654. However, pro se litigants have no authority 19 to represent anyone other than themselves. See Cato v. United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 20 1105 n.1 (9th Cir. 1995); C.E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697 (9th 21 Cir. 1987). Thus, to pursue their claims, each plaintiff will need to initiate their own 22 lawsuits by filing individual applications to proceed in forma pauperis and individual 23 complaints with the Clerk of the Court. 24 McGuire has presented no evidence that other plaintiffs have initiated lawsuits 25 with the same allegations as the Court previously directed. Thus, McGuire’s motion for 26 class certification is premature. Similarly, a request for class counsel is premature as 27 there is no class at this juncture. 1 Accordingly, McGuire’s motions for class certification, (ECF No. 12), and for 2 appointment of counsel, (ECF No. 13), are DENIED. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 DATED: _F_e_b_ru_a_r_y _6_, _2_0_24______ 5 ______________________________________ 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27