Smith v. Priolo

Full title: EARL D. SMITH, Plaintiff, v. B. PRIOLO, et al., Defendants.

Court: United States District Court, Ninth Circuit, California, E.D. California

Date published: Aug 6, 2012

2:09-cv-0654 JAM EFB P (E.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2012)

Opinion

EARL D. SMITH, Plaintiff, v. B. PRIOLO, et al., Defendants. No. 2:09-cv-0654 JAM EFB P United States District Court, E.D. California. August 6, 2012

          ORDER

          EDMUND F. BRENNAN, District Judge.

         Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He requests that the court appoint counsel. District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily to represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When determining whether "exceptional circumstances" exist, the court must consider the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). Having considered those factors, the court finds there are no exceptional circumstances in this case.

         Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff's request for appointment of counsel, Dckt. No. 48, is denied.