(PC) Ruiz v. Stormes ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ROGELIO MAY RUIZ, No. 2:19-cv-2352-TLN-EFB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 NITA L. STORMES, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. He again requests that the court appoint counsel. ECF No. 12. He also requests 19 a Spanish language interpreter. Id. 20 District courts lack authority to require counsel to represent indigent prisoners in section 21 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional 22 circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily represent such a plaintiff. See 28 23 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. 24 Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When determining whether “exceptional 25 circumstances” exist, the court must consider the likelihood of success on the merits as well as the 26 ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the legal issues 27 involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). Having considered those factors, 28 the court finds there are no exceptional circumstances in this case. 2 LUV VEVYO TEINS BP MMVUEEIOCTIL tor PO □□□ AY ee 1 Plaintiff has also requested the assistance of a Spanish language interpreter, as plaintiff’ s 2 || primary language is not English. Thus far, plaintiff's pleadings have been in English and he has 3 || succeeded in effectively communicating with the court. Moreover, the court is not aware of any 4 | authority authorizing the expenditure of public funds for a court-appointed interpreter in a civil 5 | action. See Gonzalez v. Bopari, No. 1:12-cv-01053-LJO-GBC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178295 6 || (E.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2012) (discussing lack of statutory authority for court to appoint interpreters 7 | in civil in forma pauperis actions). 8 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for appointment of 9 | counsel and for a Spanish language interpreter (ECF No. 12) is denied without prejudice. 10 | DATED: July 6, 2020. tid, PDEA 12 EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28