Brown v. Baca ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 * * * 4 JEROME BROWN, Case No. 2:23-cv-00692-CDS-EJY 5 Plaintiff, ORDER 6 v. 7 WARDEN BACA, et al., 8 Defendants. 9 10 Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Appointment of Counsel. ECF No. 51. Plaintiff 11 states that due to an ongoing lockdown at Southern Desert Correctional Center ("SDCC") he is to 12 access the prison's law library, thus impeding his ability to prosecute his case. Id. at 1. For this 13 reason Plaintiff requests the Court appoint counsel to assist him. Id. 14 While the Court sympathizes with Plaintiff's situation, the threshold for demonstrating cause 15 for the Court to appoint counsel for a civil plaintiff is high and lack of sufficient access to the prison 16 law library, a challenge claimed by many incarcerated plaintiffs, is not enough to warrant such 17 appointment. Clark v. McCormick, Case No. 2:21-cv-00173-RFB-DJA, 2023 WL 2844351, at *1 18 (D. Nev. Mar. 21, 2023). 19 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Appointment of Counsel 20 (ECF No. 51) is DENIED without prejudice. 21 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that while the Court understands that safety of all those housed 22 and who work in the facility must come first, Defendants must file a status report no later than 23 November 15, 2024 advising what, if any, plan Defendant Baca or his designee has to increase 24 access to the SDCC law library within the next 30 to 60 days. 25 Dated this 12th day of October, 2024. 26 27