1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DARYL ANTHONY HICKS, Case No. 2:22-cv-0095-DJC-JDP (P) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 RUSSELL, 15 Defendant. 16 17 Plaintiff is incarcerated and proceeding pro se in an action brought under

1983.1 Plaintiff requests that the court appoint counsel. District courts lack authority to require 19 counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. 20 Court,

(1989). In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney 21 to voluntarily represent such a plaintiff. See

(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer,

(9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright,

(9th Cir. 1990). 23 When determining whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the court must consider plaintiff’s 24 likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro 25

1 Plaintiff states that he will be released from jail on October 10, 2025, and after that date, 26 he requests that his mail be sent to 4035 E. Elizabeth Street, Compton California 90221. ECF No. 27 68 at 1. As a one-time courtesy, I will request that the Clerk of the Court serve an additional copy of this order and the court’s October 7, 2025 order on plaintiff at the above identified address. 28 However, it is incumbent on plaintiff to keep his address updated. See Local Rule 183(b). 1 | se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez,

, 970 2 | (9th Cir. 2009) (district court did not abuse discretion in declining to appoint counsel). The 3 | burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances is on the plaintiff. /d. Circumstances 4 | common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not 5 | establish exceptional circumstances that warrant a request for voluntary assistance of counsel. 6 Having considered the factors under Palmer, the court finds that plaintiff has failed to 7 | meet his burden of demonstrating exceptional circumstances warranting the appointment of 8 || counsel at this time. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 10 1. Plaintiff's motion for the appointment of counsel, ECF No. 68, is DENIED; and 11 2. one-time courtesy, the Clerk of the Court is directed to serve an additional copy of 12 | this order and the court’s October 7, 2025 order on plaintiff at 4035 E. Elizabeth Street, Compton 13 | California 90221. Plaintiff is required to advise the court of his current address. Local Rule 14 | 183d). 15 | IT IS SO ORDERED.

17 | Dated: _ October 9, 2025 sa JEREMY D. PETERSON 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28