Opinion ID: 3065781
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Likelihood of Irreparable Harm, Hardship, and

Text: Public Interest [16] Even where a plaintiff has demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of a First Amendment claim, he “must also demonstrate that he is likely to suffer irreparable injury in the absence of a preliminary injunction, and that the balance of equities and the public interest tip in his favor.” Klein v. City of San Clemente, 584 F.3d 1196, 1207 (9th Cir. 2009). Here, before granting Plaintiffs’ requests for preliminary injunctions against enforcement of ECCO § 27.2936 and §§ 27.2950-51 as applied to political parties, the district court correctly examined each necessary element and did not assume that they merely “collapse into the merits” of the First Amendment claim. Cf. Dish Network Corp. v. FCC, 636 F.3d 1139, 1144 (9th Cir. 2011). As to irreparable harm, the district court followed a long line of precedent establishing that “[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.” Klein, 584 F.3d at 1208 (quoting Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 373 (1976)). “The harm is particularly irreparable where, as here, a plaintiff seeks to engage in political speech, as ‘timing is of the essence in politics’ and ‘[a] delay of even a day or two may be intolerable.” Id. (quoting Long Beach Area Peace Network v. City of Long Beach, 522 F.3d 1010, 1020 (9th Cir. 2008)). The district court separately determined that the public interest in upholding free speech and association rights outweighed the interest in continued enforcement of these campaign finance provisions. See Sammartano v. First Judicial District Court, in and for County of Carson City, 303 F.3d 959, 974 (9th Cir. 2002) (“Courts considering requests for preliminary injunctions have consistently recognized the significant public interest in upholding First Amendment principles.”). It also gave unique attention to the balance of hardships, concluding that the equities tipped in Plaintiffs’ THALHEIMER v. SAN DIEGO 8101 favor because the burden of the restriction on their speech and associational rights outweighed the disruption to the City’s campaign finance system. See Klein, 584 F.3d at 1208; Sammartano, 303 F.3d at 973.