Opinion
No. C 11-2638 JSW (PR)
11-07-2011
ANTHONY TORRES, Plaintiff, v. G. LEWIS; MATTHEW CATE; G. KELLEY, Defendants.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL
(Docket No. 13)
Plaintiff, an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison, has filed this pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. There is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case. Lassiter v. Dep't of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). Section1915 confers on a district court only the power to "request" that counsel represent a litigant who is proceeding in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). As a result, the Court has only the power to ask pro bono counsel to represent Plaintiff, not the power to "appoint" counsel. Plaintiff is capable of presenting his claims effectively, and the issues, at least at this stage, are not complex. Consequently, the motion (docket number 13) is
DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
JEFFREY S. WHITE
United States District Judge
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
ANTHONY TORRES, Plaintiff,
v.
G. LEWIS et al, Defendant.
Case Number: CV11-02638 JSW
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. That on November 7, 2011, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery receptacle located in the Clerk's office.
Anthony Torres
Pelican Bay State Prison
P.O. Box 7500
#K59800
Crescent City, CA 95532
Richard W. Wieking, Clerk
By: Jennifer Ottolini, Deputy Clerk