(PC) Melvin L. Eddington v. Reed

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA MELVIN L. EDDINGTON, Jr., No. 2:19-cv-0712-EFB P 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. ORDER J. REED, et al., 14 Defendants.

16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 17 U.S.C. § 1983. He requests appointment of counsel as well as an extension of time to file his amended complaint pursuant to the court’s December 12, 2019 order.

19 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. The court will, however, grant plaintiff’s request for an extension of time.

1 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’ s request for the appointment of || counsel (ECF No. 12) is denied and his request for an extension of time (ECF No. 12) is granted.

3 | Plaintiff shall file his amended complaint within thirty days from the date this order is served.

4 | DATED: January 29, 2020.

5 tid, PDEA 6 EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE