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(PC) Ruiz v. Johnston ( 2020 )


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  • 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-2423-WBS-EFB P 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 S. JOHNSTON, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 This case was closed and judgment entered on July 7, 2020. ECF No. 15. Nevertheless, 18 plaintiff, who is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C. 19 § 1983, again submitted a request that the court appoint counsel. ECF No. 18. He also requests 20 a Spanish language interpreter. Id. 21 Apart from this action being closed, district courts lack authority to require counsel to 22 represent indigent prisoners in section 1983 cases. Mallard v. United States Dist. Court, 490 U.S. 23 296, 298 (1989). In exceptional circumstances, the court may request an attorney to voluntarily 24 to represent such a plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1); Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015, 1017 25 (9th Cir. 1991); Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332, 1335-36 (9th Cir. 1990). When 26 determining whether “exceptional circumstances” exist, the court must consider the likelihood of 27 success on the merits as well as the ability of the plaintiff to articulate his claims pro se in light of 28 the complexity of the legal issues involved. Palmer v. Valdez, 560 F.3d 965, 970 (9th Cir. 2009). 1 || Having considered those factors, the court finds there are no exceptional circumstances in this 2 || case. 3 Plaintiff has also requested the assistance of a Spanish language interpreter, as plaintiff’ s 4 || primary language is not English. Thus far, plaintiff's pleadings have been in English and he has 5 || succeeded in effectively communicating with the court. Moreover, the court is not aware of any 6 || authority authorizing the expenditure of public funds for a court-appointed interpreter in a civil 7 || action. See Gonzalez v. Bopari, No. 1:12-cv-01053-LJO-GBC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178295 8 | (E.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2012) (discussing lack of statutory authority for court to appoint interpreters 9 | in civil in forma pauperis actions). 10 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs request for appointment of 11 | counsel and for a Spanish language interpreter (ECF No. 18) is denied. 12 | DATED: November 12, 2020. 13 tid, PDEA 14 EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Document Info

Docket Number: 2:19-cv-02423

Filed Date: 11/12/2020

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 6/19/2024