Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_19-cv-02552/USCOURTS-caed-2_19-cv-02552-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ELADIO RODRIGUEZ,

Plaintiff,

v.

G. KNIGHT, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:19-cv-2552 DB P

ORDER

Plaintiff is a state inmate proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis with a civil rights action 

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff claims defendants used excessive force against him and 

denied him due process in violation of his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. 

Presently before the court is plaintiff’s motion for an interpreter.

Plaintiff requests the court appoint a Spanish interpreter for the settlement conference set 

for May 25, 2021 before Magistrate Judge Delaney. (ECF No. 23.) Plaintiff has not provided 

any arguments in support of his request.

“[T]he expenditure of public funds [on behalf of an indigent litigant] is proper only when 

authorized by Congress . . . .” Tedder v. Odel, 890 F.2d 210, 211-12 (9th Cir. 1989) (quoting 

United States v. MacCollom, 426 U.S. 317, 321 (1976)). The court is unaware of any statute 

authorizing the expenditure of public funds for a court-appointed interpreter in a civil action. See

Loyola v. Potter, 2009 WL 1033398, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 16, 2009) (“The court is not 

Case 2:19-cv-02552-DJC-DB Document 25 Filed 04/08/21 Page 1 of 2
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authorized to appoint interpreters for litigants in civil cases, and, moreover, has no funds to pay 

for such a program.”). Accordingly, the court will deny plaintiff’s request for an interpreter.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion for an interpreter (ECF No. 23) is 

denied.

Dated: April 7, 2021

DB:12

DB:1/Orders/Prisoner/Civil.Rights/rodr2552.interp

Case 2:19-cv-02552-DJC-DB Document 25 Filed 04/08/21 Page 2 of 2