Opinion ID: 552172
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the validity of the injunction

Text: 33 As we noted above, plaintiffs prevailed on two pendent state-law causes of action: trespass and intentional interference with contractual relations. Defendants do not argue on appeal that the district court's resolution of these state-law claims was erroneous. Therefore, the injunction, which rests independently on each of these grounds, must be upheld regardless of the merits of plaintiffs' Sec. 1985(3) claim. 7 See Northeast Women's Center, Inc. v. McMonagle, 868 F.2d 1342, 1355 (3d Cir.) (declining to decide whether injunctive relief is available to private parties under civil RICO because such relief was warranted by plaintiff's meritorious state-law claim), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 261, 107 L.Ed.2d 210 (1989); Northern Virginia Women's Medical Center v. Balch, 617 F.2d 1045, 1049 (4th Cir.1980) (sustaining injunction against anti-abortion demonstrators based on pendent state-law claims); Portland Feminist Women's Health Center v. Advocates for Life, Inc., 681 F.Supp. 688, 691-92 (D.Or.1988) (upholding preliminary injunction against anti-abortion demonstrators based on pendent state-law claims after Sec. 1985(3) claim was dismissed). 34 Defendants do, however, challenge the district court's jurisdiction to consider these state-law claims. In the jurisdictional section of their brief, defendants, almost in passing, suggest that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over these claims because all federal claims were, or should have been, dismissed. We disagree. Plaintiffs' state and federal claims ... derive from a common nucleus of operative fact and are such that [a plaintiff] would ordinarily be expected to try them all in one judicial proceeding. United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 725, 86 S.Ct. 1130, 1138, 16 L.Ed.2d 218 (1966); see also Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 108 S.Ct. 614, 618, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988). Accordingly, the district court had pendent jurisdiction over the state-law claims. 35 This is not a case, moreover, in which the federal claims were dismissed soon after the inception of litigation. In fact, plaintiffs' federal claims were not dismissed; they remained before the district court throughout the entire proceedings. Plaintiffs prevailed on their Sec. 1985(3) claim and voluntarily dismissed their RICO claim only after they had obtained all the relief they sought. Under such circumstances, the district court's exercise of pendent jurisdiction over the state-law claims was entirely proper. We therefore reject defendants' contentions to the contrary. 36 Although the defendants do not argue otherwise, it is useful to note here that the district court correctly determined that plaintiffs have satisfied the requirements for issuance of a permanent injunction. 8 As discussed above, plaintiffs succeeded on the merits of their trespass and intentional interference with contractual relations claims. The district court also made supported findings of fact and conclusions of law favoring the plaintiffs with respect to: (1) the availability vel non of an adequate legal remedy; (2) the reality of the threatened injury; (3) the existence of equitable defenses; and (4) the balance of the equities. The court, moreover, specifically considered defendants' first amendment rights in tailoring its injunction. In view of the district court's diligence and the defendants' failure to challenge any of these findings, the order granting a permanent injunction must be affirmed.