Stuckey
Stuckey v. Howard
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
ANDRE KENNETH STUCKEY,
Case No. 19-cv-03691-YGR (PR) Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR v. LIMITED SCOPE APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL
D. HOWARD, et al.,
7 Defendants.
Plaintiff has filed a motion for appointment of counsel in this prisoner civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a limited scope appointment, i.e., to represent him in settlement proceedings. Dkt. 46. There is no constitutional right to counsel in a civil case unless an indigent litigant may lose his physical liberty if he loses the litigation. See Lassiter v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). The court may seek counsel to represent an indigent litigant under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 only in “exceptional circumstances,” the determination of which requires an evaluation of both (1) the likelihood of success on the merits, and (2) the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity…