342 GRUPO MEXICANO de DESARROLLO, S. A. v.
ALLIANCE BOND FUND, INC. Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
presented, why shouldn't I be able to provide [Alliance] with [injunctive] relief?" App. to Pet. for Cert. 34a. Why, the District Judge asked, should GMD be allowed "to use the process of the court to delay entry of a judgment as to which there is no defense? Why is that equitable?" Id., at 36a. The Court gives no satisfactory answer.
B
Contrary to the Court's suggestion, see ante, at 332, this case involves no judicial usurpation of Congress' authority. Congress, of course, can instruct the federal courts to issue preliminary injunctions freezing assets pending final judgment, or instruct them not to, and the courts must heed Congress' command. See Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, 326 U. S. 99, 105 (1945) ("Congressional curtailment of equity powers must be respected."). Indeed, Congress has restricted the equity jurisdiction of federal courts in a variety of contexts. See Yakus v. United States, 321 U. S. 414, 442, n. 8 (1944) (cataloging statutes regulating federal equity power).
The Legislature, however, has said nothing about preliminary freeze orders. The relevant question, therefore, is whether, absent congressional direction, the general equitable powers of the federal courts permit relief of the kind fashioned by the District Court. I would find the default rule in the grand aims of equity. Where, as here, legal remedies are not "practical and efficient," Payne, 7 Wall., at 431, the federal courts must rely on their "flexible jurisdiction in equity . . . to protect all rights and do justice to all concerned," Rubber Co. v. Goodyear, 9 Wall. 788, 807 (1870). No countervailing precedent or principle holds the federal courts powerless to prevent a defendant from dissipating assets, to the destruction of a plaintiff's claim, during the course of judicial proceedings. Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals and uphold the District Court's preliminary injunction.
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