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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

California prison ruling

Noel Jackson v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Denied
No. 26A197Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice KaganFrom Supreme Court of California

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on August 20, 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 25 days after filing

What's being asked

Noel Jackson is asking the Supreme Court to temporarily pause a ruling by the Supreme Court of California. The record does not say what that ruling or dispute concerned.

What the Court did

Justice Kagan refused Jackson’s request for emergency help and denied (turned down) his application for a temporary pause. The order does not pause the California Supreme Court’s ruling. 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 273 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 29 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 25 days after filing.

What it means

This emergency ruling concerns only a temporary pause and does not decide who wins the underlying dispute. The California Supreme Court’s ruling remains unpaused, and related case No. 25-7356 exists.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A197. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 5, 2026