Emergency application · Capital case
Racial bias in jury selection
Cedric Allen Ricks v. Texas
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on March 11, 2026 and refused to halt the execution.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Cedric Ricks, a Texas death-row prisoner, asked the Supreme Court to pause his execution while it considers whether to hear his case. Ricks says newly disclosed jury-selection notes support his claim that prosecutors struck jurors because of race. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals barred his later effort to raise that claim.
What the Court did
The Court refused to pause Ricks's execution and denied his request for a stay (a temporary pause). It also denied his petition for certiorari (refused to hear his case). The Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
The emergency request concerned only a temporary pause; it did not decide whether Texas excluded jurors because of race. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision remains in place; the docket lists no related Supreme Court case or argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A983. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.