法律英语：86 Injunctions and Restraining Orders

by Michael W. Flynn
 
First, a disclaimer: Although I am an attorney, the legal information in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed¹ to practice in your jurisdiction². Further, I do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

Today I answer a good basic question from Maryanne from Phoenix³:

I am always reading about injunctions in the news – that some group “got an injunction.” What does it mean to get an injunction? And how does the group get one?

An injunction is an equitable⁴ remedy that comes in the form of an order by a court. The order will direct a person to do something, or refrain from doing something. A common example is an injunction that orders a person to stop harassing⁵ another person, by staying a certain number of feet away from the harassed⁶ person, or that prohibits the harasser⁷ from contacting his victim.

One major purpose that injunctions serve is to guarantee some remedy where money will not solve the problem. So, imagine that the harasser constantly calls his victim and shouts obscenities and threats. While the victim might later recover monetary⁸ damages for the distress⁹, the victim is more interested in stopping the harassment¹⁰ and not suffering at all than in suffering and getting paid later. So, the law provides the injunction to give courts the power to stop a person from harassing.

Injunctions come in different shapes and sizes, and different procedures are used to obtain them. A common example is a temporary restraining order that freezes the status quo for a short period of time pending¹¹ the court being able to look at the evidence and determine what should happen. For example, if a person is trying to sell property and transfer title, but another person claims that he has a percentage interest in that property, the court will issue a temporary restraining order to stop the sale until the court can look at all the evidence about who actually owns it and makes a decision.

Permanent injunctions are longer term, but not always actually permanent. A judge might issue a permanent injunction against a company from dumping chemicals into a river after a case where it is determined¹² that the company broke the law in dumping.

Most often, to get an injunction before something happens, you have to present pretty good proof. You have to show that, if an injunction is not issued, you will face irreparable harm, or some sort of damage that no later case against the wrongdoer will fully¹³ fix. Take the property sale example – if the sale happens, then the person who had the percentage ownership cannot ever get that property back. He might get paid for it, but he no longer has that unique piece of land that he holds near and dear for some reason.

You must also present evidence that you are more likely than not to prevail in the upcoming case.

Injunctions are powerful tools because, once issued, the police and other authorities can enforce them. Also, the court can hold someone violating an injunction in criminal or civil contempt, which can carry large fines and imprisonment¹⁴.

One hot topic in injunctions today is “gang injunctions.” They are injunctions that order people to refrain from associating with certain other people who are part of criminal organizations. So, if a person is seen speaking to a gang member, then the police can swoop¹⁵ in and possibly arrest both people. Rather than having to follow normal Fourth Amendment¹⁶ search and seizure¹⁷ law, which requires that the police have a reasonable suspicion of some violation¹⁸ of the law, the police can simply stop the conversations themselves. These injunctions are hotly contested because it is almost impossible to define who is in a gang, who is not, what activities are allowed, and what are not, and also because they are seen by critics as a violation of innocent bystanders’ Fourth Amendment rights. These injunctions are currently being tested around courts in the country, and time will tell if they stand.

Thank you for listening to Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful¹⁹ Life. You can send questions and comments to。。。。。。or call them in to the voice mail line at 206-202-4LAW. Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

 

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

3 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

4 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

5 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

6 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

7 harasser   

参考例句：

• Inform the harasser that his or her attentions are unwanted. 告诉骚扰人他／她的注意是不需要的。 来自互联网
• Understand that this is the same with our workplace bully and harasser. 了解职场欺负者和骚扰者也是这样。 来自互联网

8 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

10 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

11 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

12 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

15 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

16 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

17 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

18 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

19 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。