Opinion
4:23-CV-00675-BSM
07-19-2024
MICHAEL PHILLIPS ADC #145557 PLAINTIFF v. DEANGELO EARL, et al. DEFENDANTS
ORDER
After careful review of the record, United States Magistrate Judge Benecia B. Moore's recommended disposition [Doc. No. 21] is adopted. Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings [Doc. No. 13] is granted and Phillips's complaint [Doc. No. 2] is dismissed without prejudice. Additionally, Phillips's motions for a status update and for the appointment of counsel [Doc. Nos. 22 & 23] are denied as moot because this case is being dismissed. Moreover, even if this case were to continue, the motion for the appointment of counsel is denied because pro se litigants do not have a constitutional or statutory right to appointment of counsel in civil cases and the facts alleged are not beyond what a pro se litigant can handle. See Patterson v. Kelley, 902 F.3d 845, 850 (8th Cir. 2018). It is recommended that this dismissal count as a “strike” for the purposes of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and it is certified, pursuant to 28 United States Code section 1915(a)(3), that an in forma pauperis appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith.
IT IS SO ORDERED