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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Pausing a state court ruling

Richard Saddler v. Matthew Hearne

Denied
No. 25A809Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice KavanaughFrom Supreme Court of Missouri

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on January 13, 2026: 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 6 days after filing

What's being asked

Richard Saddler, a private party, asks the Court to temporarily pause a ruling by the Supreme Court of Missouri. The record does not explain what the dispute with Matthew Hearne and others concerns.

What the Court did

The Court refused Saddler’s request for emergency help; Justice Kavanaugh denied (turned down) a temporary pause of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s ruling. The Court did not publish 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 215 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 34 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 6 days after filing.

What it means

This emergency ruling addresses only a request for temporary relief; it does not decide who wins the underlying case. The Supreme Court of Missouri’s ruling remains in place. The docket lists no related case about the main question, and the application was not set for argument.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A809. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 3, 2026