(PC)Watkins

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 MAURICE WATKINS, No. 2:20-cv-1360 DB P Plaintiff, v. ORDER JEFF LYNCH, et al., Defendants. 15 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action 42 U.S.C. §1983. Plaintiff claims officers failed to protect him in violation of his Eighth Amendment. Presently before the court is plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel. (ECF No. 7.) In support of his motion plaintiff argues counsel should be appointed because he cannot afford counsel, his imprisonment will interfere with his ability to litigate this case, and he has attempted to obtain counsel on his own. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in § 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the district court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to…