Skip to main content
Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Pausing an appeals court ruling

Pierre Rashad Preston v. United States

Denied
No. 26A146Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to The Chief JusticeFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on July 31, 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 64 days after filing

What's being asked

Pierre Rashad Preston, a private individual, asks the Chief Justice to temporarily pause a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The record does not explain what that ruling or the underlying dispute concerns.

What the Court did

The Chief Justice refused emergency help, denying Preston’s request for a temporary pause of the Fourth Circuit ruling. The order gives no explanation. 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 252 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 30 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 64 days after filing.

What it means

This emergency ruling addresses only a temporary pause; it does not decide who wins the underlying case. The Fourth Circuit ruling remains in place. No related Supreme Court case to decide the main legal question is listed, and no argument is set.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A146. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026