Coffin

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 KENNETH EARL STEVERSON, No. 2:22-cv-01543 DB P Plaintiff, v. ORDER D. COFFIN, et al., Defendants. 16 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights action seeking relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. A settlement conference is currently scheduled in this matter for January 11, 2024. (ECF No. 21.) On November 12, 2023, plaintiff filed a motion to appoint counsel to represent him at the settlement conference. (ECF No. 22 at 1.) In the alternative, he asks the court to reschedule the settlement conference for a date after his release from custody, at which time he can hire counsel. (Id.) For the reasons stated below, the court will deny the motion. 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…