Opinion ID: 161369
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Other Elements Necessary To Warrant Preliminary Injunctive Relief

Text: 73 Because Utah's regulations fail the Central Hudson test, ULBA has established the first element necessary for an injunction, a substantial likelihood that it will prevail on the merits. We now turn to the other elements that ULBA must establish in order to obtain a preliminary injunction. See Country Kids, 77 F.3d at 1283 (discussing the elements necessary to warrant injunctive relief). 74 ULBA argues that it is presumptively suffering irreparable injury, the second element, due to Utah's deprivation of its First Amendment rights. See Aplt's Br. at 35-36, citing Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373 (1976). Although Elrod was not a Central Hudson commercial speech case, this presumption of irreparable injury has been applied in commercial speech cases in other circuits. See, e.g., Nordyke v. Santa Clara County, 110 F.3d 707, 710 (9th Cir. 1997); International Dairy Foods Ass'n v. Amestoy, 92 F.3d 67, 71 (2d Cir. 1996). We agree with ULBA that it is proper for us to assume irreparable injury due to the deprivation of ULBA's commercial speech rights. 75 With respect to the third element of the test for a preliminary injunction, we hold that the First Amendment injury to ULBA outweighs any prospective injury to Utah if an injunction were granted. Utah has introduced some evidence that advertising might increase alcohol consumption. See (III)(B)(3), supra. But even that evidence was contradicted by ULBA's submissions. See id. Because we concluded in our Central Hudson analysis that Utah's regulatory scheme is irrational, and hence unlikely to achieve its goals, there is no reason to think that Utah will be harmed more than ULBA if the advertising restrictions are enjoined. In the meantime, Utah unquestionably retains the power to attack alcohol-related problems through methods that do not restrict speech. 76 Finally, we come to the fourth element, whether an injunction would be adverse to the public interest. In A.C.L.U. v. Johnson, we held that an injunction that would block an unconstitutional New Mexico regulation of the Internet would not be adverse to the public interest[,] as it will protect the free expression of the millions of Internet users both within and outside of the State of New Mexico. Johnson, 194 F.3d at 1163. Because we have held that Utah's challenged statutes also unconstitutionally limit free speech, we conclude that enjoining their enforcement is an appropriate remedy not adverse to the public interest. See also Elam Constr., Inc. v. Regional Transp. Dist., 129 F.3d 1343, 1347 (10th Cir. 1997) (stating, in the context of a request for injunctive relief, that [t]he public interest . . . favors plaintiffs' assertion of their First Amendment rights.).