PARRA v. CREAR

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedAugust 15, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-01597
StatusUnknown

This text of PARRA v. CREAR (PARRA v. CREAR) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PARRA v. CREAR, (S.D. Ind. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

GERMAN PARRA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 1:25-cv-01597-SEB-KMB1 ) CREAR Deputy, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) )

ORDER ON PENDING MOTIONS, SCREENING SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT, AND DIRECTING FURTHER ACTION

Pending before the Court are several motions. The Court addresses each in turn below. I. Plaintiff's Motion for Counsel, dkt. 82 Mr. Parra has filed a motion seeking assistance recruiting counsel. Dkt. 82. Litigants in federal civil cases do not have a constitutional or statutory right to court-appointed counsel. Walker v. Price, 900 F.3d 933, 938 (7th Cir. 2018). Instead, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) gives courts the authority to "request" counsel. Mallard v. United States District Court, 490 U.S. 296, 300 (1989). As a practical matter, there are not enough lawyers willing and qualified to accept a pro bono assignment in every pro se case. See Watts v. Kidman, 42 F.4th 755, 764 (7th Cir. 2022) (explaining that courts must be careful stewards of the limited resource of volunteer lawyers); Olson v. Morgan, 750 F.3d 708, 711 (7th Cir. 2014) ("Whether to recruit an attorney is a difficult decision: Almost everyone would benefit from having a lawyer, but there are too many indigent litigants and too few lawyers willing and able to volunteer for these cases.").

1 This case was originally opened on the docket of our Evansville Division of the Court under Case No. 3:23- cv-00218-RLY-CSW. It was recently transferred to the Indianapolis Division and assigned a new case number. All future filings in this case should be filed under the new case number, which is 1:25-cv-01597-SEB-KMB. "'When confronted with a request under § 1915(e)(1) for pro bono counsel, the district court is to make the following inquiries: (1) has the indigent plaintiff made a reasonable attempt to obtain counsel or been effectively precluded from doing so; and if so, (2) given the difficulty of the case, does the plaintiff appear competent to litigate it himself?'" Eagan v. Dempsey, 987 F.3d

667, 682 (7th Cir. 2021) (quoting Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647, 654 (7th Cir. 2007)). These two questions "must guide" the court's determination whether to attempt to recruit counsel, Id., and require an individualized assessment of the plaintiff, the claims, and the stage of litigation. See Pruitt, 503 F.3d at 655-56. The first issue, whether litigants have made a reasonable attempt to secure private counsel on their own, "is a mandatory, threshold inquiry that must be determined before moving to the second inquiry." Eagan, 987 F.3d at 682. Mr. Parra reports that he has attempted without success to contact multiple attorneys with requests for representation. This constitutes a reasonable effort to recruit counsel on his own prior to seeking the Court's assistance. We encourage him to continue his efforts to secure counsel.

"The second inquiry requires consideration of both the factual and legal complexity of the plaintiff's claims and the competence of the plaintiff to litigate those claims himself." Eagan, 987 F.3d at 682 (citing Pruitt, 503 F.3d at 655). "The court's competency evaluation should account for 'the plaintiff's literacy, communication skills, educational level, and litigation experience,' and, to the extent that such evidence is before the court, information 'bearing on the plaintiff's intellectual capacity and psychological history.'" Watts, 42 F.4th at 760 (quoting Pruitt, 503 F.3d at 655). "Specifically, courts should consider 'whether the difficulty of the case— factually and legally—exceeds the particular plaintiff's capacity as a layperson to coherently present it to the judge or jury himself.'" Eagan, 987 F.3d at 682 (quoting Pruitt, 503 F.3d at 655). "This assessment of the plaintiff's apparent competence extends beyond the trial stage of proceedings; it must include 'the tasks that normally attend litigation: evidence gathering, preparing and responding to motions and other court filings, and trial.'" Id. (quoting Pruitt, 503 F.3d at 655).

Mr. Parra's motion is not premised on his need for counsel based on his medical, educational, or other similar limitations. The only specific reason Mr. Parra provides for requiring counsel is that he has limited access to law library resources in prison. This challenge is not uncommon; it is faced by most incarcerated litigants. Mr. Parra will be entitled to extensions of time when appropriate, if he cannot meet a Court-imposed deadline due to limited law library access. See Decker v. Sireveld, 109 F.4th 975, 984−85 (7th Cir. 2024) (finding no abuse of discretion when court denied the plaintiff's request for counsel because, despite being housed in a restricted housing unit with limited law library access, the court explained that it could extend deadlines as needed). Mr. Parra also premises his request for counsel on the complexity of the legal issues

involved. However, these proceedings do not suggest that they are beyond his competence to litigate on his own. For example, Mr. Parra alleges that he was subjected to unconstitutional conditions of confinement, denied meaningful reviews of his ongoing placement in administrative segregation, and threatened with adverse action if he did not sign a document in the wake of an investigation into the suicide of another inmate. Many of these facts are within his personal knowledge, and, to the extent they are not, Mr. Parra's already conducted extensive discovery, including non-party discovery, and multiple discovery motions reveal a level of sufficient skill and insight for him to proceed on his own. See, e.g., dkts. 53, 84, 102; see also dkt. 99 (summarizing the discovery requests Mr. Parra has served). His filings to date are cogent, demonstrating an ability to communicate effectively with the Court about both the facts and relevant law. See, e.g., dkt. 100 (motion for leave to amend, discussing relation back doctrine); dkt. 100-2 (proposed amended complaint, discussing legal theories underpinning his claims). Thus, the Court holds that Mr. Parra is sufficiently competent to continue to litigate this case without assistance of counsel,

at least through the completion of summary judgment briefing. Accordingly, Mr. Parra's motion for assistance recruiting counsel is denied without prejudice. Dkt. [82]. The clerk is directed to send Mr. Parra a form motion for assistance of recruited counsel, for his use if he chooses to renew his motion. The Court will remain alert to any changes in litigation circumstances that may warrant reconsideration of the motion, such as a settlement conference or trial. II. Motion for Leave to Amend Complaint, dkt. 100 On March 21, 2025, Mr. Parra filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint. Dkt. 100. Mr. Parra has indicated that he received discovery from Defendants on March 17, 2025, through which he discovered additional names of individuals whom he alleges were involved in violating

his constitutional rights. Id. Mr. Parra states that he first requested this documentation on October 29, 2024, which was the day after discovery opened. Id; dkt.

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PARRA v. CREAR, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parra-v-crear-insd-2025.