Save Our Sonoran, Inc. v. Flowers
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
408 F.3d 1113 (2004)
56th & Lone Mountain, L.L.C. (defendant) had a permit to build a gated residential community in the Sonoran Desert, and Save Our Sonoran, Inc. (SOS) (plaintiff) sued alleging the development violated federal environmental law, moving for and winning a preliminary injunction suspending construction. At the injunction-bond hearing, SOS argued for a nominal bond as a public-interest litigant but presented no evidence that a higher amount would cause it undue hardship, and the district court set the bond at $50,000, with both SOS and Lone Mountain appealing that figure from opposite directions.
Whether, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), a court has discretion to require a nominal injunction bond amount in a public-interest case if a higher bond amount would amount to undue hardship.