Emergency application · Capital case
Spiritual advisers at executions
Lance Shockley v. Richard Adams, Warden
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on October 14, 2025 and refused to halt the execution.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Lance Shockley, a Missouri prisoner under a death sentence, asked the Supreme Court to pause his execution, scheduled for October 14, 2025. He says Missouri refused to let his daughters serve as spiritual advisers in the execution room, despite a state policy allowing family members. He argues the state relied on speculative safety concerns and violated his religious-freedom rights.
What the Court did
The Court refused emergency help: it denied (turned down) Shockley’s request for a temporary pause of his execution. It also denied Supreme Court review (refused to hear the case) and let state officials submit extra case documents in a sealed (nonpublic) appendix. The Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
Emergency relief is temporary, and this ruling did not decide who wins the underlying religious-freedom dispute. The Eighth Circuit is the lower court, but the docket gives no details about further proceedings there. It lists no related Supreme Court case on the dispute and no argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A418. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.