U.S. Sup. Ct.
10-1472
Title 28 U. S. C. §1920, as amended by the Court Interpreters Act, includes compensation of interpreters among the costs that may be awarded to prevailing parties in federal-court lawsuits. §1920(6). In this case, the District Court awarded costs to respondent as the prevailing party in a civil action instituted by petitioner. The award included the cost of translating from Japanese to English certain documents that respondent used in preparing its defense. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, concluding that §1920(6) covers the cost of translating documents as well as the cost of translating live speech. Held: Because the ordinary meaning of interpreter is someone who translates orally from one language to another, the category compensation of interpreters in §1920(6) does not include the cost of document translation. Pp. 3-15.
