Hernandez

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 ETUATE SEKONA, No. 2:17-cv-0346-KJM-EFB P Plaintiff, v. ORDER JOE LIZARRAGA, et al., Defendants. 16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He has filed a motion to appoint counsel and a motion for a Tongan interpreter. ECF No. 81. For the reasons stated hereafter, plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel and his motion for an interpreter are denied. Plaintiff requests that the court appoint counsel to represent him in this case. District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily to represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). …