O'CONNELL

L

INTRODUCTION

By order of the California Supreme Court, we are charged with reviewing defendants’ petition for writ of certiorari, mandate, and other appropriate relief, challenging a preliminary injunction issued by the Alameda County Superior Court, but later stayed by the California Supreme Court. That injunction restrained defendants from denying diplomas to members of the 2006 graduating class at California public high schools who were otherwise eligible to graduate, but who had not passed both portions of the California high school exit exam, otherwise known as the CAHSEE.

We conclude, inter alia, that: (1) the trial court’s determination that plaintiffs were likely to prevail on their primary equal protection claim was supported by substantial evidence and legally proper, although the court’s determination as to their secondary claim was not; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in the manner in which it balanced the factors it was legally required to consider in deciding a motion for preliminary injunction, and in concluding that the injunction was necessary in order to maintain the status quo while the underlying litigation proceeded; and (3) the remedy…