(PC) Rodriguez-Mendez v. Ellred,et al

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RODRIGO RODRIGUEZ-MENDEZ, No. 2:24-CV-0678-DMC-P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 ELLRED, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 18 Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s 19 motion for the appointment of counsel, ECF No. 8. 20 The United States Supreme Court has ruled that district courts lack authority to 21 require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in civil rights cases. Cf. Mallard v. United States 22 Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In certain exceptional circumstances, the Court may 23 request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1). See Terrell v. 24 Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 25 (9th Cir. 1990). A finding of “exceptional circumstances” requires an evaluation of both the 26 likelihood of success on the merits and the…