Baeza

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN EDWARD MITCHELL, Case No. 1:20-cv-00857-KES-HBK (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION

FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

13 v. (Doc. No. 62) 14 H. BAEZA, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel. (Doc. No. 62). 18 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, is proceeding pro se on his Second Amended Complaint. (Doc. No. 19 29). Plaintiff seeks appointment of counsel claiming that he “can’t afford to hire” an attorney, his 20 claims are complex, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and his other efforts to obtain 21 counsel have been unsuccessful. (Doc. No. 62 at 1-2). 22 The United States Constitution does not require appointment of counsel in civil cases. See 23 Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 354 (1996) (explaining Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. at 817, did not 24 create a right to appointment of counsel in civil cases). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, this court has 25 discretionary authority to appoint counsel for an…