Emergency application · Capital case
Review of death row appeals
Charles L. Burton, Jr. v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections
What did the Court do?
The request was withdrawn on March 11, 2026, before the Court ruled on it.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Charles L. Burton Jr., an Alabama death-row prisoner, asked the Supreme Court to temporarily pause his execution. His request was tied to a request for the Court to review an Eleventh Circuit ruling. Burton says the appeals court blocks full-court review and reasoned explanations when it denies permission to appeal in his challenge to his death sentence. He also says a recent Supreme Court decision may support reopening that case.
What the Court did
The application closed without a ruling on Burton’s request: he withdrew it. The Court did not grant or refuse the temporary pause, and it did not publish a vote.
What it means
Any pause would have been temporary, and the Court did not decide Burton’s underlying legal claims. The record does not say what happens next in the Eleventh Circuit; no related Supreme Court case or argument is listed.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A964. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.