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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Alan Headman v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

Denied
No. 25A90Stay 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 July 23, 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

Alan Headman, a private party, asks the Supreme Court to temporarily pause a ruling by the Fifth Circuit. His case names the FBI and others, but the record does not say what the ruling concerns.

What the Court did

The Supreme Court refused emergency help: Justice Alito denied Headman's request for a temporary pause. The record gives no reason and does not report 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

Justice Alito's denial means the Fifth Circuit ruling is not paused. This emergency decision addresses only a temporary pause; it does not decide who wins the underlying dispute. The docket lists no related case asking the Supreme Court to decide the main legal issues, and no argument is set.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A90. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026