(PC) James v. State of California

Opinion

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6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RONALD EUGENE JAMES, Case No. 2:21-cv-00713-KJM-JDP (PC)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION AS TO HIS REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION 13 v. OF TIME AND DENYING IT AS TO HIS REQUEST FOR TO APPOINT COUNSEL 14 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, et al., ECF No. 14 15 Defendants. 16

17 Plaintiff is a prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights action brought under 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On June 22, 2021, the court screened plaintiff’s complaint, notified him that it 19 failed to state a claim, and gave him sixty days to file an amended complaint. ECF No. 8. 20 Plaintiff subsequently requested, and the court granted, a thirty-day extension of time to file an 21 amended complaint. On November 8, 2021, after plaintiff failed to timely file an amended 22 complaint, the court ordered him to show cause why this action should not be dismissed for 23 failure to prosecute and for failure to state a claim. ECF No. 13. Plaintiff has now filed a motion 24 asking for a second extension to file an amended complaint and for appointment of counsel. The 25 court will grant plaintiff’s request for an extension of time. 26 Plaintiff, however, has failed to demonstrate that appointment of counsel is warranted at 27 this time. Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see 28 Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court lacks the authority to 1 | require an attorney to represent plaintiff. See Mallard y. U.S. District Court for the Southern 2 | District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). The court may request the voluntary assistance of 3 | counsel. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1) (“The court may request an attorney to represent any person 4 | unable to afford counsel”); Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. However, without a means to compensate 5 | counsel, the court will seek volunteer counsel only in exceptional circumstances. In determining 6 | whether such circumstances exist, “the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success 7 | onthe merits [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 8 | complexity of the legal issues involved.” Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525 (internal quotation marks and 9 | citations omitted). 10 Having considered these factors, the court does not that there are exceptional 11 || circumstances warranting appointment of counsel. The court may revisit this issue at a later stage 12 | of the proceedings if the interests of justice so require. If plaintiff later renews his request for 13 || counsel, he should provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances that he believes justify 14 | appointment of counsel in this case. 15 Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that: 16 1. Plaintiffs motion, ECF No. 14, is granted as to his request for an extension of time. 17 2. Plaintiff is granted thirty days from the date of this order in which to file both an 18 | amended complaint and a response to the November 8, 2021 order. 19 3. Plaintiff's motion, ECF No. 14, is denied as to his request for appointment of counsel. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. 22 ( q Sty - Dated: _ December 9, 2021 q——— 23 JEREMY D,. PETERSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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