(PC) Thomas v. Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Transportation Unit

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 JIMMY RENAY THOMAS, No. 2:20-cv-1951 TLN AC P Plaintiff, v. ORDER SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S

DEPARTMENT TRANSPORTATION

UNIT, Defendant. 16 Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a civil rights action, has requested appointment of counsel. ECF No. 9. The motion suggests that indigent inmates are entitled to representation. That is not the case. Although indigent criminal defendants are entitled to appointed counsel, there is no right to counsel in civil proceedings such as civil rights lawsuits. 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 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991);…