Grant P. Kimball v. Commandant Twelfth Naval District, San Francisco, California, Does I Through Xx, Inclusive

Appellant sought a temporary restraining order and further injunctive relief barring his removal from the Northern District of California pending action by the Navy on his request for in-service conscientious objector classification (I-AO). Initially the case was heard as an ex parte matter on October 16, 1969, but after a brief recess an assistant United States attorney appeared for the appellee and the cause was fully argued by both sides. (R.T. 5-27) The district judge denied all relief with the following statement: “Ordered after hearing argument by respective counsel the motion for temporary restrianing (sic) order, Denied.” (C.T. 9A)

This appeal was filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We hold for reasons that we discuss, post, that the denial of injunctive relief was a “final decision” within the purview of section 1291, and we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. Jurisdiction of This Court

In the interests of avoiding uneconomical piecemeal appellate review, it has generally been held that appeal does not lie from the denial of an application for a temporary restraining order. (See e. g., Chandler v. Garrison, 394 F.2d 828 (5th Cir. 1967).) Nevertheless, under…