Dickens v. State of Washington

Opinion

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5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 JOSHUA A. DICKENS, 9 Plaintiff, CASE NO. 3:23-cv-05876-KKE-BAT 10 v. ORDER DENYING MOTION (DKT. 6) FOR APPOINTMENT OF 11 STATE OF WASHINGTON et al., COUNSEL 12 Defendant.

13 Plaintiff filed a pro se civil rights complaint and request for appointment of counsel. Dkt. 14 6. The Court DENIES plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel. 15 There is no right to counsel in civil actions. See Campbell v. Burt, 141 F.3d 927, 931 (9th 16 Cir. 1998). A court may appoint counsel for indigent civil litigants under 28 U.S.C. 17 § 1915(e)(1), but only if there are “exceptional circumstances.” Agyeman v. Corrections Corp. 18 of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004). To determine if “exceptional circumstances” exist, 19 the Court considers “the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the ability of the [plaintiff] 20 to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved.” Weygandt 21 v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th Cir. 1983). 22 Extraordinary circumstances do not compel appointment of counsel. Plaintiff’s 23 allegations are straight forward and currently as pled are subject to dismissal. 1 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS: 2 (1) Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel (Dkt. 6) is DENIED. 3 (2) The Clerk shall provide Plaintiff with a copy of this Order. 4 DATED this 17th day of October, 2023.

5 A 6 BRIAN A. TSUCHIDA United States Magistrate Judge 7

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