Emergency application
Mining at a sacred site
Gouyen Brown Lopez v. United States
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on March 19, 2026, so nothing changes while the case continues in the lower courts.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Four people—Gouyen Brown Lopez, Sinetta Lopez, Nomie Brown, and Angela Kinsey—ask Justice Kagan to intervene. They seek an emergency injunction, a temporary court order, while their appeal continues. The excerpt does not explain the underlying dispute. It names the United States, its Agriculture Department and Forest Service, and Resolution Copper Mining LLC as opposing parties. The Ninth Circuit denied an injunction pending appeal and a preliminary injunction (a temporary order before a final decision).
What the Court did
Justice Kagan refused the requested emergency injunction and denied the application (turned down the request). The record includes no opinion explaining the denial, and the Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
This emergency ruling only addresses the request for temporary relief; it does not decide who wins the underlying case. The Ninth Circuit's denial of an injunction remains in place while the appeal continues there. No related Supreme Court case asking it to decide the main legal questions is listed, and no argument is set.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A1008. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.