Opinion
CV-24-00328-PHX-DGC
10-25-2024
Sarah Christine Stinson, Plaintiff, v. Banner Health, Defendant.
ORDER
David G. Campbell, Senior United States District Judge
Plaintiff moves for a court-appointed Iraqi Arabic language interpreter during depositions and court appearances. Doc. 29. The motion will be denied.
Plaintiff does not explain why she cannot afford to retain a private interpreter. The Court denied Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis because her household income of $72,000 is 170% greater than the poverty guideline, she owns a home in Scottsdale, Arizona worth more than $800,000, and she had more than $3,000 in checking accounts. Docs. 6, 7. Even if Plaintiff was indigent, the in forma pauperis statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, does not authorize the expenditure of public funds for court-appointed interpreters in civil cases. See Chavira v. Oh, No. 2:23-CV-04051-DOC-AJR, 2024 WL 1699103, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 8, 2024) (same and citing cases); see also Hrbenic v. Ryan, No. CV-14-02251-PHX-JAT (DMF), 2016 WL 4376513, at *1 (D. Ariz. Aug. 17, 2016) (“[N]o case from the United States Supreme Court or the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recogniz[es] the right to a court-appointed interpreter in a civil proceeding.”); Ali v. Gerry, No. 12-CV-185-JL, 2012 WL 4848889, at *2 (D.N.H. Oct. 10, 2012) (“There is no constitutional right to free interpreter services in federal civil cases.”).
Plaintiff asserts that English is not her first language. Doc. 29 at 1. But the record in this case, including the telephonic scheduling conference in which Plaintiff participated (see Doc. 25), shows that Plaintiff has sufficient English proficiency to pursue her claims at this pre-trial stage of litigation. See Desmaine v. Columbia Sportswear Co., No. 3:24-CV-00067-SB, 2024 WL 865873, at *3 (D. Or. Feb. 29, 2024).
IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for a court-appointed Iraqi Arabic language interpreter (Doc. 29) is denied.