Gomez
(PC) Hawkins v. Gomez
Opinion
trial_court Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RICKY HAWKINS, Case No. 2:21-cv-02302-JDP (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL
13 v. ECF No. 24 14 O. GOMEZ, et al.,
15 Defendants. 16 17 18 Plaintiff is a state inmate proceeding without counsel in this civil rights action brought 19 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He has filed a second motion requesting that he be appointed counsel. 20 ECF No. 24. 21 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see Rand 22 v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court lacks the authority to require an 23 attorney to represent plaintiff. See Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 24 298 (1989). The court can request the voluntary assistance of counsel. See 28 U.S.C. 25 § 1915(e)(1) (“The court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to afford 26 counsel”); Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525. But without a means to compensate counsel, the court will 27 seek volunteer counsel…