Victory v. Henderson NA P.D.

Opinion

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 5

6 JUSTIN LYNN VICTORY, Case No. 2:23-cv-02086-CDS-NJK 7 Plaintiff(s), ORDER 8 v.

9 HENDERSON NA P.D., et al., [Docket No. 23] 10 Defendant(s). 11 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel. Docket No. 23. 12 A litigant does not have a constitutional right to counsel to pursue civil rights claims. See 13 Storseth v. Spellman, 654 F.2d 1349, 1353 (9th Cir. 1981). Nonetheless, “[t]he court may request 14 an attorney to represent any person unable to afford counsel.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). The Court 15 will request an attorney for indigent civil litigants in “exceptional circumstances.” Palmer v. 16 Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). The word “exceptional” is defined as “out of the 17 ordinary course, unusual,” or “rare.” See Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford Univ. Press 18 2015).1 When determining whether exceptional circumstances exist, the Court considers the 19 plaintiff’s likelihood of success on the merits and the plaintiff’s ability to articulate his claims pro 20 se in light of the complexity of the legal issues involved. Id. “Neither of these considerations is 21 dispositive and instead must be viewed together.” Id. 22 In the circumstances of this case, the Court is not persuaded that requesting an attorney for 23 Plaintiff is warranted. While the Court notes that Plaintiff has stated one colorable claim 24 sufficiently to proceed past the pleading stage, see Docket No. 17, Plaintiff has not yet 25 demonstrated that evidence shows a likelihood to succeed on the merits of that claim, cf. Hucker 26

27 1 “Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as lack of legal education and limited law library access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that warrant a request for voluntary 28 assistance of counsel.” Baker v. Macomber, 2020 WL 1182495, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 12, 2020). 1} v. Daub, 2021 WL 2550089, at *6 (S.D. Cal. June 22, 2021) (collecting cases that stating a colorable claim is not, standing alone, sufficient to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits). Moreover, the claims alleged are not complex. Plaintiff has thus far shown a sufficient 4] ability to articulate claims and arguments without the assistance of counsel. 5 Accordingly, the motion to appoint counsel is DENIED. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 Dated: May 13, 2024 .

Nancy J. Koppe 9 United States Magistrate Judge 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28