Jimenez v. Horel

Filing 146

ORDER signed by District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 6/14/18 ORDERING the Plaintiff requests the court waive service and witness fees for four witnesses he intends to subpoena to testify at trial. ECF No. 138 (motion) ; the motion is DENIED without prejudice. (Becknal, R)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ROBERT C. JIMENEZ,

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No. 2:10-cv-2943 KJM KJN

Plaintiff,

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v.

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J. WHITFIELD,

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ORDER

Defendant.

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Plaintiff requests the court waive service and witness fees for four witnesses he

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intends to subpoena to testify at trial. ECF No. 138 (motion); ECF No. 8 (order granting leave to

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proceed in forma pauperis). Defendant opposes. ECF No. 14.
Although 28 U.S.C. § 1915 permits the court to authorize the commencement of

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suit without prepayment of fees upon a showing of indigency, and further permits indigent

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plaintiffs to pay the filing fee in installments, § 1915 does not authorize federal courts to finance

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or subsidize a civil action by paying fees or other costs associated with the litigation. See Tedder

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v. Odel, 890 F.2d 210, 211–12 (9th Cir. 1989) (per curiam) (“The Supreme Court has declared

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that the expenditure of public funds on behalf of an indigent litigant is proper only when

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authorized by Congress.”) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). And although

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appointed pro bono counsel for an indigent pro se civil litigant may petition the court for

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reimbursement of certain costs from the court’s non-appropriated funds, plaintiff’s counsel has

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not so petitioned the court. See Eastern District General Order 558; see also Giraldes v. Prebula,

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No. CIV. S-01-2110 LKK/E, 2012 WL 1355739, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 18, 2012).

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The motion is therefore DENIED without prejudice.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: June 14, 2018.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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