(PC) Penn v. Warden of Kern Valley State Prison

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 MARLIN PENN, Case No. 1:19-cv-00396-DAD-JDP

Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION

FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

v. ECF No. 14 WARDEN OF KERN VALLEY STATE PRISON, et al., 15 Defendants.

17 Plaintiff Marlin Penn Jones is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On June 3, 2019, Penn filed a motion requesting appointment of counsel. ECF No. 14. Penn submits that he suffers from a variety of medical ailments and that prison officials are making it difficult for him to litigate. Id. 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a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see Rand v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), withdrawn in part on other grounds on reh’g en banc, 154 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 1998), and the court lacks the authority to require an attorney to represent plaintiff, see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). …