Judge Kate Menendez has denied the motion of plaintiffs State of Minnesota et al. for a preliminary injunction shutting down Operation Metro Surge on the ground of unconstitutionality. Her 30-page order is posted online here.
Plaintiffs’ harebrained lawsuit is a glorified Keith Ellison press release. Judge Menendez is sympathetic with elements of it, but even she can’t find her way to holding that plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of the lawsuit. She therefore denies plaintiffs’ motion. She discusses plaintiffs’ (un)likelihood of success — the key issue on this motion — at pages 14-27 of her order. The lawsuit will nevertheless continue to wend its way toward a resolution under her watchful eyes.
An order granting or denying a prelimimary injunction is an appealable interlocutory order. Plaintiffs are therefore afforded the right to appeal this order now. However, I seriously doubt that plaintiffs want to elicit the scorn of the Eighth Circuit for the merits of the case this early in the proceedings.
