Summary
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia denies pro se prisoner Grady Taylor, Jr.'s motion for appointment of counsel in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. The Court grants his motion to proceed in forma pauperis, orders payment of an initial partial filing fee of $33.64, and directs monthly deductions from his inmate account until the filing fee is paid.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether exceptional circumstances justified appointing counsel for the prisoner plaintiff in this § 1983 action.
- Whether Plaintiff qualified to proceed in forma pauperis and, if so, what initial partial filing fee and installment-payment obligations applied under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
Holdings
- A district court may appoint counsel for an indigent civil-rights plaintiff only when exceptional circumstances justify doing so, and Plaintiff's case did not present such circumstances.
- Plaintiff may proceed in forma pauperis, but he must pay the full filing fee through the PLRA's installment process, including an initial partial filing fee of $33.64.
Key quotations
“Appointment of counsel is “instead a privilege that is justified only by exceptional circumstances, such as where the facts and legal issues are so novel or complex as to require the assistance of a trained practitioner.””
“Plaintiff, “like any other litigant[], undoubtedly would [be] helped by the assistance of a lawyer, but [his] case is not so unusual” that appointed counsel is necessary.”
Factual background
Grady Taylor, Jr. is a prisoner at Jefferson County Correctional Institution in Louisville, Georgia, who filed a pro se civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He asserted that he could not afford counsel, that imprisonment would impair his ability to litigate, that trial might involve conflicting testimony, and that he had unsuccessfully sought counsel. His account certification showed average monthly deposits of $168.19 during the approximately two and a half months preceding the complaint.
Procedural history
Plaintiff filed a civil-rights complaint and applications to proceed in forma pauperis and for appointed counsel. The district court denied appointed counsel, granted IFP status, ordered payment of an initial partial filing fee of $33.64 and subsequent monthly installments, and withheld service of process pending further order.