Cite as: 527 U. S. 308 (1999)
Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
601 (1896) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also 1 S. Symons, Pomeroy's Equity Jurisprudence § 67, p. 89 (5th ed. 1941) (the "American system of equity is preserved and maintained . . . to render the national jurisprudence as a whole adequate to the social needs . . . . [I]t possesses an inherent capacity of expansion, so as to keep abreast of each succeeding generation and age."). A dynamic equity jurisprudence is of special importance in the commercial law context. As we observed more than a century ago: "It must not be forgotten that in the increasing complexities of modern business relations equitable remedies have necessarily and steadily been expanded, and no inflexible rule has been permitted to circumscribe them." Union Pacific R. Co., 163 U. S., at 600-601. On this understanding of equity's character, we have upheld diverse injunctions that would have been beyond the contemplation of the 18th-century Chancellor.4
Compared to many contemporary adaptations of equitable remedies, the preliminary injunction Alliance sought in this case was a modest measure. In operation, moreover, the preliminary injunction to freeze assets pendente lite may be a less heavy-handed remedy than prejudgment attachment,
4 In a series of cases implementing the desegregation mandate of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U. S. 483 (1954), for example, we recognized the need for district courts to draw on their equitable jurisdiction to supervise various aspects of local school administration. See Freeman v. Pitts, 503 U. S. 467, 491-492 (1992) (describing responsibility shouldered by district courts, "in a manner consistent with the purposes and objectives of [their] equitable power," first, to structure and supervise desegregation decrees, then, as school districts achieved compliance, to relinquish control at a measured pace). Similarly, courts enforcing the antitrust laws have superintended intricate programs of corporate dissolution or divestiture. See United States v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 366 U. S. 316, 328- 331, and nn. 9-13 (1961) (cataloging cases); cf. United States v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 552 F. Supp. 131 (DC 1982), aff'd sub nom. Maryland v. United States, 460 U. S. 1001 (1983) (approving consent decree that set in train lengthy judicial oversight of divestiture of telephone monopoly).
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