Burnett v. C.D.C.R. Trust Office

Filing 21

ORDER Denying Plaintiff's 15 Motion for the Appointment of Counsel; ORDER Regarding Plaintiff's 16 Motion to Leave out Pro Se Under 42 USC 1983 in Prisoner/Civil Illegal Detainee Legal Assistant Illuminate in Support of Stratford Career Institute, signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 8/4/17. (Gonzalez, R)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CARLOS ROMERO BURNETT,
Plaintiff,

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v.
C.D.C.R TRUST OFFICE,
Defendant.

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Case No.: 1:17-cv-00899-LJO-SAB (PC)
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR
THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL
(ECF No. 15)
ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
TO LEAVE OUT PRO SE UNDER 42 U.S.C. §
1983 IN PRISONER/CIVIL ILLEGAL DETAINEE
LEGAL ASSISTANT ILLUMINATE IN
SUPPORT OF STRATFORD CAREER
INSTITUTE
(ECF No. 16)

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Plaintiff Carlos Romero Burnett is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in

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this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This matter was referred to a United States

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Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(1)(B) and Local Rule 302.

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Currently before the Court are (1) Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel, filed July

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24, 2017 (ECF No. 15); and (2) Plaintiff’s motion entitled, “Leave out pro se under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

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in prisoner/civil illegal detainee legal assistant Illuminati in support of Stratford Career Institute,” filed

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July 20, 2017 (ECF No. 16). The Court will address each motion in turn.
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I.

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MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL
Plaintiff states that he seeks the appointment of counsel, and states that judges have appointed

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lawyers for prisoners who filed section 1983 suits on their own.

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Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, Rand v.

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Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the Court cannot require an attorney to represent

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Plaintiff pursuant to 28 U.S.C.§ 1915(e)(1), Mallard v. United States District Court for the Southern

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District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298, 109 S. Ct. 1814, 1816 (1989). However, in certain exceptional

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circumstances the court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel pursuant to section

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1915(e)(1). Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525.

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Without a reasonable method of securing and compensating counsel, the Court will seek

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volunteer counsel only in the most serious and exceptional cases. In determining whether “exceptional

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circumstances exist, a district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success of the merits [and] the

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ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues

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involved.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

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Circumstances common to most prisoners, such as non-attorney status and limited law library

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access, do not establish exceptional circumstances that would warrant a request for the voluntary

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assistance of counsel. In the present case, the Court has yet to screen Plaintiff’s complaint, and based

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on a cursory review of the record, the Court does not find the required exceptional circumstances.

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Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel is denied, without prejudice.

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II.

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MOTION FOR MISCELLANEOUS RELIEF

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Plaintiff’s states in his second motion that he is a paralegal or legal assistant. Plaintiff seeks

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for the Court to refer to Plaintiff as a “Paralegal Legal Assistant Plaintiff” in this civil rights action.

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The Court declines to refer to Plaintiff as such at this time.

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III.

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CONCLUSION

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For these reasons, it is HEREBY ORDERED:

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1.

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Plaintiff’s motion for the appointment of counsel, filed July 24, 2017 (ECF No. 15), is

denied, without prejudice; and,
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Plaintiff’s motion entitled, “Leave out pro se under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in prisoner/civil

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illegal detainee legal assistant Illuminati in support of Stratford Career Institute,” filed July 20, 2017

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(ECF No. 16), is denied.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:

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August 4, 2017
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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