Opinion ID: 758074
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jurisdiction over Mr. Kirschenbaum's interlocutory appeal.

Text: 8 Before turning to the merits of Mr. Kirschenbaum's interlocutory appeal, we must first address whether we have jurisdiction; although the parties assume we do, we have the obligation to satisfy ourselves that we can hear this appeal. GNB Battery Technologies, Inc. v. Gould, Inc., 65 F.3d 615, 619 (7th Cir.1995). Mr. Kirschenbaum asserts we have jurisdiction over this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) because the district court's order is an injunction and so the district court's denial of Mr. Kirschenbaum's motion to vacate that order is immediately appealable. See 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) (includes orders refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions); In re James Wilson Assocs., 965 F.2d 160, 166 (7th Cir.1992). This court has yet to address the appealability of protective orders under § 982(b), but the Fifth and Ninth Circuits have and concluded they are appealable. United States v. Floyd, 992 F.2d 498, 500 (5th Cir.1993) (post-indictment pretrial ex parte protective order under 18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1) (seizure of property) is injunction covered by 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1)); United States v. Ripinsky, 20 F.3d 359, 361 (9th Cir.1994) (same) (citing United States v. Roth, 912 F.2d 1131, 1132 (9th Cir.1990)) (restraining order under 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1)); see also United States v. Field, 62 F.3d 246, 248 (8th Cir.1995) (reviewing postindictment ex parte restraining order under 18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1) without discussing basis for appellate jurisdiction). And courts have reached the same conclusion regarding restraining orders under 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1), which 18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1) incorporates. Roth, 912 F.2d at 1132 (post-indictment ex parte restraining order under 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1) appealable under § 1292(a)(1)); United States v. Monsanto, 836 F.2d 74, 77 (2d Cir.1987) (same), vacated on rehearing en banc on other grounds, 852 F.2d 1400 (2d Cir.1988) (per curiam), and rev'd on other grounds, 491 U.S. 600, 109 S.Ct. 2657, 105 L.Ed.2d 512 (1989) (reviewing merits without addressing jurisdictional basis); cf. United States v. Estevez, 852 F.2d 239, 240 n. 3 (7th Cir.1988) (dismissing interlocutory appeal of restraining order under § 853(e)(1) as moot where defendant had already been convicted and had filed appeal from final judgment). On the other hand, the Tenth Circuit concluded that restraining orders under 21 U.S.C. § 853(e)(1) and a comparable provision under RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1963(e)(1), were appealable under the collateral order doctrine. United States v. Musson, 802 F.2d 384, 385 (10th Cir.1986); but see In re Assets of Martin, 1 F.3d 1351, 1355 (3d Cir.1993) (concluding restraining order under § 18 U.S.C. § 1963(e)(1) was appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) as an injunction) (citing Floyd, 992 F.2d at 500). We agree with the Martin court that the considerable weight of decisions on point establishes that the restraining order in this case and the district court's order refusing to vacate it are immediately appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). 9