Opinion
C23-5541-TSZ-SKV
12-20-2023
JONATHAN RUFFIN, Plaintiff, v. PIERCE COUNTY COUNCIL, et al., Defendants.
ORDER TAKING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL UNDER ADVISEMENT
S. KATE VAUGHAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This is a civil rights action proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff Jonathan Ruffin is currently confined at the Pierce County Jail. He has submitted to the Court for consideration a motion for appointment of counsel. Dkt. 13. Defendants have not yet been served in this matter and, thus, no response to Plaintiff's pending motion is anticipated. The Court, having reviewed Plaintiff's motion and the balance of the record, hereby ORDERS as follows:
(1) Plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (Dkt. 13) is taken under advisement and is STRICKEN from the Court's calendar at this time. Plaintiff requests that counsel be appointed to represent him in this case, and he argues in support of his request that he cannot afford to hire counsel, that he has limited access to the law library and limited knowledge of the law, and that this case is complex. See id. at 1-3. Plaintiff also asserts that previous cases similar to the instant action have been proven to have merit in a court of law. Id. at 1.
The instant action is one of a number of cases filed in recent months by Pierce County Jail inmates asserting claims concerning the plumbing and sewage system at the Jail. The Court has appointed counsel in one such case, Wolfclan v. Washington State DSHS, C23-5399-TSZ-SKV, Dkt. 84. The Wolfclan case was filed by Pierce County Jail inmate Echota C. Wolfclan, as a proposed class action. After counsel was appointed in Wolfclan, Mr. Wolfclan filed a motion seeking to have Mr. Ruffin and a number of individuals who have filed similar cases joined in that action. See Wolfclan, C23-5399-TSZ-SKV, Dkt. 71. While it is unknown at this juncture whether Mr. Ruffin will end up as a participant in the Wolfclan case, the Court deems it appropriate to defer its ruling on Mr. Ruffin's request for appointment of counsel in the instant action until there is greater clarity surrounding the Wolfclan case and how it is likely to proceed.
(2) The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to Plaintiff and to the Honorable Thomas S. Zilly.