Stuckey v. Risenhoover
- Vonne Gonzalez Roger
- 4:19-cv-03780
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Stuckey v. Woods, Judge Vonne Gonzalez Roger granted fee status but denied counsel and a preliminary injunction without prejudice because notice was lacking.
Andre Kenneth Stuckey’s fee status, request for appointed counsel, and request for a preliminary injunction were affected; the order did not decide the merits of his civil-rights complaint.
What happened
Andre Kenneth Stuckey, a California state prisoner representing himself, filed a civil-rights lawsuit against Bill Woods and other defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He also asked to pay the filing fee over time, receive appointed counsel, and obtain a preliminary injunction.
The court granted Stuckey permission to proceed without paying the full filing fee upfront. It set the total fee at $350 and the initial partial payment at $1. The court said the prison trust account office must collect payments under the instructions attached to the order.
Judge Vonne Gonzalez Roger denied the request for appointed counsel and denied the preliminary-injunction motion without prejudice. Counsel was denied because the case was at an early stage and Stuckey had adequately presented his claims; the injunction was denied because the defendants had not been served and the required notice or emergency showing had not been provided. The court said it would screen the complaint separately and that Stuckey could resubmit the injunction motion if the case proceeded and defendants were served.
The detailed version
- Stuckey v. Risenhoover · No. 4:19-cv-03780
- Vonne Gonzalez Roger
- Jan. 3, 2020
Background
Andre Kenneth Stuckey, identified in the opinion as a California state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Along with the complaint, he filed an application to proceed without paying the full filing fee at the start, a motion asking the court to appoint a lawyer, and a motion for a preliminary injunction.
Filing-fee status
The court granted Stuckey permission to proceed without paying the full filing fee upfront. It stated that the total filing fee was $350 and that the initial partial filing fee was $1. The order directed the prison trust account office to deduct and send payments according to the attached instructions, with monthly deductions continuing until the fee was paid in full.
Appointment of counsel
The court denied Stuckey’s request for appointed counsel. It explained that civil litigants generally do not have a constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer and that a court may seek volunteer counsel for an indigent litigant only in exceptional circumstances. The court considers the likely success of the claims and the person’s ability to present the claims without a lawyer, viewed together. Because the case was at an early stage, the court said it was too soon to determine the likelihood of success. It also found that Stuckey had adequately presented his claims given the complexity of the issues.
Preliminary injunction
The court denied Stuckey’s motion for a preliminary injunction without prejudice. A preliminary injunction is an order intended to provide temporary relief while a case is pending. The court held that the motion did not satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65’s notice requirements because the defendants had not yet been served. The court also stated that Stuckey had not met the requirements for an emergency temporary restraining order without notice.
The court further explained that it first had to screen the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A to determine whether it stated legally sufficient claims. It said that, if the case proceeded to briefing, Stuckey could resubmit the preliminary-injunction motion after defendants had been served. The order terminated Docket Nos. 2, 3, and 4.
Disposition
Judge Vonne Gonzalez Roger granted the application to proceed without paying the full filing fee upfront, denied the motion for appointment of counsel, and denied the motion for a preliminary injunction without prejudice. The court did not decide the merits of Stuckey’s civil-rights claims in this order.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.