Joseph L. Jones v. State of Washington, Washington State Department of...

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE JOSEPH L. JONES, 9 Plaintiff, CASE NO. 2:25-cv-01696-KKE-BAT 10 v. ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL AND STATE OF WASHINGTON, SEALING EXHIBITS TO WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT COMPLAINT OF CORRECTIONS, JENNA KNOX, JOHN/JANE DOES 1–10, Defendants.

Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Washington State Department of Corrections and others on September 4, 2025. Dkt. 1.

Plaintiff filed a Request for Appointment of Counsel on September 5, 2025. Dkt. 9. Having considered Plaintiff’s motion, the Court finds and ORDERS: 1. Plaintiff’s Request for Appointment of Counsel, Dkt. 9, is DENIED. A person filing a civil lawsuit generally has no right to counsel. See Campbell v. Burt, 141 F.3d 927, 931 (9th Cir. 1998). The Court may appoint counsel for an indigent civil litigant, but only under “exceptional circumstances.” Agyeman v. Corrections Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004). To assess whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the Court considers the likelihood of success on the merits and the plaintiff’s ability to articulate his claims pro se given the complexity of the legal issues. Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). Plaintiff argues the case raises “complex constitutional issues” and that he is indigent. Dkt. 9. However, Plaintiff has filed a number of motions in this action, and has thus far been able to articulate his claims for relief and appears capable of presenting his case.

5 2. The exhibits to Plaintiff’s complaint contain a number of unredacted or partially unredacted personal data identifiers distributed throughout. Because the exhibits are voluminous, the Court ORDERS that the entirety of the attachments to Dkt. 1 and the attachments to Dkt. 8 shall be SEALED. For the purpose of any future filings, Plaintiff is reminded that Local Civil Rule 5.2 requires parties to redact certain personal data identifiers from all documents filed with the court, including state court records.

11 3. The Clerk is directed to update the case caption to add Defendant State of Washington, which is named in the original complaint but omitted on the Court’s docket.

13 DATED this 21st day of October, 2025.

14 A BRIAN A. TSUCHIDA United States Magistrate Judge