U.C. Nuclear Weapons Labs Conversion Project v. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

Introduction

This is an appeal by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and certain officials of the Laboratory and of the University of California, from an order granting a preliminary injunction which requires the Laboratory to allow the U.C. Nuclear Weapons Labs Conversion Project to use the Laboratory’s Visitors Center to display literature and show slideshows, and to apply to use a certain auditorium to present programs.

The question on review of an order granting a preliminary injunction is whether the trial court abused its discretion. (Continental Baking Co. v. Katz (1968) 68 Cal.2d 512, 527 [ 67 Cal.Rptr. 761 , 439 P.2d 889 ]; City of Torrance v. Transitional Living Centers for Los Angeles, Inc. (1982) 30 Cal.3d 516, 519 [ 179 Cal.Rptr. 907 , 638 P.2d 1304 ].)

Since a preliminary injunction is a provisional remedy (see Code Civ. Proc., §§ 526, 527), its granting or denial cannot be based on a final determination of the merits of the case. (Continental Baking Co. v. Katz, supra, 68 Cal.2d at p. 528 .) Rather, the trial court is required to weigh the harm to the plaintiff which would probably result from denying the preliminary injunction, as against the harm to…