Robinson

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 NICHOLAS SCOTT STONE, Case No. 1:19-cv-00703-JDP Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT

COUNSEL

v. ECF No. 12 T. ROBINSON, et al., Defendants. 16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff appears to seek the appointment of counsel in this case, although he has submitted a California Superior Court form that does not apply to federal courts. See ECF No. 12. As plaintiff has failed to articulate any basis for appointing counsel—except that he cannot afford to pay—his motion for counsel is denied without prejudice. Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court lacks the authority to require an attorney to represent plaintiff. See Mallard v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). The court may…