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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Torture risks in extradition

Melvin Martinez-Guardado v. Hiromichi Kobayashi, Warden

Denied
No. 25A276Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice AlitoFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on September 10, 2025: the lower court's ruling stays in effect while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.

Filed Ruled 5 days after filing

What's being asked

Melvin Martinez-Guardado, a U.S. permanent resident, asks the Supreme Court to pause his extradition during his Fifth Circuit appeal and any Supreme Court review. The Fifth Circuit said a rule against reviewing decisions tied to the extradition barred relief.

What the Court did

Justice Alito refused Martinez-Guardado’s request for an emergency pause; the application was denied (turned down). The docket does not state how the justices voted.

Vote not published · 9the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Thomas
  3. Alito
  4. Sotomayor
  5. Kagan
  6. Gorsuch
  7. Kavanaugh
  8. Barrett
  9. Jackson
The order does not say how any justice voted, as is usual on the emergency docket.
Half of 302 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 28 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 5 days after filing.

What it means

This emergency ruling addresses only the request for a temporary pause; it does not decide who wins the underlying dispute. His appeal is in the Fifth Circuit; no related Supreme Court case about the main legal questions or argument date is listed.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A276. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026