Emergency application
Lethal injection risks
James Duckett v. Ron Desantis, Governor of Florida
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on July 28, 2026.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Florida prisoners James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone ask the Supreme Court to pause their executions while it considers their request for review. Duckett says Florida’s destructive DNA testing prevented independent testing of key evidence; he seeks testing of similar items. Occhicone challenges Florida’s lethal-injection procedures, saying the state used expired drugs and his age and declining health could increase his suffering. Governor Ron DeSantis and other Florida officials are the opposing parties.
What the Court did
The Court refused to pause the executions (denied the stay applications, meaning requests for a temporary pause). It also refused Supreme Court review, denying the petition for certiorari (a request for the Court to hear the case). The Court did not publish how the justices voted; its order does not decide the prisoners’ underlying claims.
What it means
The emergency request sought a temporary pause; the Court’s order did not decide who was right on the underlying claims. The application says the Eleventh Circuit upheld the district court’s earlier denial of a pause, but gives no later proceedings there. The docket lists no related case on the main legal questions, and the Court set no argument.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A129. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.