Opinion
CASE NO. 1:14-cv-01894-DAD-MJS (PC)
10-12-2016
IRVIN VAN BUREN, Plaintiff, v. C. WADDLE, et al., Defendants.
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST FOR DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPTS AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE
(ECF No. 60)
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The case proceeds on Plaintiff's first amended complaint ("FAC") against Defendants Neibert, Ronquillo, and Walinga for excessive force under the Eighth Amendment and against Defendant Waddle for excessive force and failure to protect under the Eighth Amendment. (ECF No. 7.)
On September 16, 2016, Plaintiff filed a motion for a Court order requiring Defendants to provide, at government expense, copies of deposition transcripts of inmate witnesses. (ECF No. 60.) Defendants have not opposed this motion, and the time for doing so has passed. It is submitted. Local Rule 230(l).
Plaintiff is not entitled to deposition transcripts furnished at the government's expense. Allen v. Hernandez, No. 1:05-cv-00145-AWI-SMS-PC, 2008 WL 4078742 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 29, 2008). While a litigant who has been granted in forma pauperis status may move for transcripts at the government's expense under limited circumstances, see 28 U.S.C. §§ 753(f) and 1915(c), those circumstances are not present here. See Tedder v. Odel, 890 F.2d 210, 211 (9th Cir. 1989) ("[T]he expenditure of public funds [on behalf of an indigent litigant] is proper only when authorized by Congress....") (internal quotations omitted). If Plaintiff wishes to obtain copies of deposition transcripts for his own records, he must pay for them. Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(f)(3).
Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for deposition transcripts at the government's expense is DENIED. IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 12, 2016
/s/ Michael J . Seng
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE