Berrera v. Sivyer et al
Filing
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ORDER signed by Chief District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 2/11/2020 DENYING 76 The Requested bill of costs entirely. (Mena-Sanchez, L)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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ERNESTO BERRERA,
No. 2:15-cv-00610-KJM-EFB
Plaintiff,
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v.
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J. SIVYER, et al.,
ORDER
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Defendants.
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Defendants’ motion to review the clerk of court’s taxation of the Bill of Costs is
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before the court. Mot, ECF No. 76. On February 12, 2019, the court adopted the magistrate
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judge’s findings and recommendations, dismissing plaintiff’s case without prejudice, and the
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clerk entered judgment in favor of defendants. Order, ECF No. 72; Judgment, ECF No. 73. The
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court did not deem plaintiff’s claims frivolous in dismissing them.
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Defendants timely filed a Bill of Costs, which requested reimbursement for
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$4,411.33 in fees for printed or electronically recorded transcripts necessarily obtained for use in
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the case. Bill of Costs, ECF No. 74. No other costs and expenses were requested. The Bill of
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Costs included itemized invoices for seven depositions. Id.
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On April 10, 2019, the clerk of court reduced defendants’ requested costs to
$2,264.03. ECF No. 75. Defendants moved for review of the clerk’s taxation of costs. Mot.
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54 authorizes courts to award costs to the
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“prevailing party” in federal actions. Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1). “By its terms, the rule creates a
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presumption in favor of awarding costs to a prevailing party, but vests in the district court
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discretion to refuse to award costs.” Ass’n of Mexican-Am. Educators v. California, 231 F.3d
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572, 591 (9th Cir. 2000). However, this presumption is not a rigid rule. Fishgold v. Sullivan
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Drydock & Repair Corp., 328 U.S. 275, 283–84 (1946); see also Ayala v. Pac. Mar. Ass’n, No.
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C08-0119 TEH, 2011 WL 6217298, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 14, 2011) (“In order to overcome the
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presumption, a losing party must show that to award costs to the prevailing party would be
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unjust.”) (citation omitted). Eastern District Local Rule 292, drawing on applicable rules of civil
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procedure, identifies several types of expenses the court may tax as costs, including court reporter
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fees and compensation for interpreters. E.D. Cal. L.R. 292(f)(1)-(11).
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Prevailing defendants assert their entire bill of costs is compensable, including
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costs for an original and one copy of a deposition transcript, reporter’s appearance fees and costs
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of shipping and handling transcripts, and interpreter’s services. The court need not reach these
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arguments in the exercise of its discretion as explained below.
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In Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., 743 F.3d 1236, 1247–48 (9th Cir. 2014),
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the Ninth Circuit reviewed the prevailing defendant’s cross-appeal of the district court’s denial of
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costs. The clerk of court had reduced costs from the initial request, but on review of the cost bill,
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the district court denied costs entirely. Id. at 1247. The Ninth Circuit held it was not an abuse of
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discretion for the district court to have denied costs, explaining, “[a]ppropriate reasons for
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denying costs include: (1) the substantial public importance of the case, (2) the closeness and
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difficulty of the issues in the case, (3) the chilling effect on future similar actions, (4) the
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plaintiff’s limited financial resources, and (5) the economic disparity between the parties.” Id. at
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1247–48. This list is not “exhaustive . . . of good reasons for declining to award costs, but rather
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a starting point for analysis.” Id. at 1248 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
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In this case, three of the five factors enumerated in Escriba support a complete
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denial of costs. While the first two factors, the substantial public importance of the case and the
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closeness of the case, do not support denying an award of costs, the remaining three do.
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In Stanley v. University of Southern California, 178 F.3d 1069, 1079–
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1080 (9th Cir. 1999), the Ninth Circuit found the district court abused its discretion in failing to
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consider the “chilling effect of imposing such high costs on future civil rights litigants” reasoning
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“imposition of such high costs on losing civil rights plaintiffs of modest means may chill civil
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rights litigation in this area.” See also Draper v. Rosario, 836 F.3d 1072, 1089 (9th Cir.
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2016) (finding a cost award of $3,018.35 “could chill similar lawsuits challenging Eighth
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Amendment violations in jails and prisons”).
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As in Stanley and Draper, imposing costs against plaintiff here, a state prisoner
alleging civil rights violations under § 1983, would likely deter similarly situated litigants from
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bringing like claims. The prospect of losing one’s claim and then owing a substantial cost bill to
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the state almost certainly has a chilling effect on prisoner civil rights litigation.
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The next two factors weigh in favor of denying costs as well. For the purposes of
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this action, plaintiff was indigent and proceeded in forma pauperis. See Order Granting In Forma
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Pauperis Status, ECF No. 8. Nothing in the record indicates plaintiff’s circumstances have
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changed. Moreover, it hardly needs to be said that the economic disparity between the indigent
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plaintiff and the State of California is vast. That the State is a public entity is of no moment.
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Mansourian v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. of Cal. at Davis, 566 F. Supp. 2d 1168, 1171 (E.D.
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Cal. 2008) (holding economic disparity factor applicable against public university).
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As a result, the court exercises its discretion in a fashion consistent with the
aforementioned cases and denies the requested bill of costs entirely.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: February 11, 2020.
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