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Supreme Court Case Tracker

Emergency application · Capital case

Michael Bell v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections

Denied
No. 25A57Stay applicationFiled by a prisoner facing executionPresented to Justice ThomasFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on July 15, 2025 and refused to halt the execution.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 1 day after filing

What's being asked

A prisoner facing execution asks the Supreme Court to halt (stay) an execution. The case is Michael Bell v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections.

What the Court did

Application (25A57) for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan would grant the application and the petition for a writ of certorari.

Dissenting · 2recorded against the Court's order
  1. Sotomayorwould grant
  2. Kaganwould grant
Vote not published · 7the order does not say how they voted
  1. Thomas
  2. Roberts
  3. Alito
  4. Gorsuch
  5. Kavanaugh
  6. Barrett
  7. Jackson
The order records the positions of 2 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Days from filing to a ruling for 47 rulings on capital applications decided without a response since January 1, 2025. The band is the middle half, the tick the median, and the mark this application: ruled 1 day after filing.

What it means

The Court's refusal leaves the execution to go forward as scheduled unless another court or official halts it.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A57. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked September 24, 2026