Thomas

concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I concur with the majority’s holding that appellants have standing to bring this action.

I respectfully dissent from the rest of the opinion.

The majority today holds that a district court, after making findings of fact based upon voluminous documentary evidence, has no power to enter a preliminary injunction 1 against a local law enforcement agency without holding a full-dress eviden-tiary hearing. This cannot be the law and, in my opinion, is not the law. The majority is only able to reach this surprising and flawed conclusion by ignoring the standard to be observed by this court in reviewing preliminary injunctions, and by blurring the distinction between preliminary and permanent injunctions.

The copious record submitted to the district court is replete with shocking allegations supported by declarations. As recited by the majority, plaintiffs brought forward evidence to show unlawful detentions and searches, beatings, shootings, terrorist activities, and destruction of property. More specifically, the declarations included evidence that black and hispanic men were repeatedly arrested without cause and severely beaten by deputies…

The plaintiffs, predominately black and hispanic residents of the City of Lynwood, California, brought this section 1983 class action alleging that deputy sheriffs at the Lynwood station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were mistreating minority citizens. The complaint, filed against the County of Los Angeles, the *506 City of Lynwood, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, supervisory personnel within the Sheriffs Department, and individual Sheriffs deputies, includes allegations of unlawful detentions and searches, beatings, shootings, terrorist activities, and destruction of property. Specifically, the plaintiffs charge that deputy sheriffs in Lynwood use excessive force in detaining minority citizens and employ unlawful procedures in searching residences occupied by minorities. This appeal, filed by the defendants, challenges the preliminary injunction issued by the district court in an effort to bring to an end the incidents of police misconduct.

The injunction issued by the district court ordered the entire Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to do the following:

Pursuant to the defendants’ request for emergency appellate relief, this court stayed the…