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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application · Capital case

Staying an execution

Curtis W. Beasley v. Florida

Denied
No. 26A405Stay applicationFiled by a prisoner facing executionPresented to Justice ThomasFrom Supreme Court of Florida

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on September 29, 2026 and refused to halt the execution.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.

Filed Ruled 5 days after filing

What's being asked

Death-row prisoner Curtis W. Beasley asked the Court to pause his execution. He also sought review of a Florida Supreme Court decision in his death-sentence case. His filing said the execution was set for September 29, 2026, at 6 p.m.; it does not identify the issue he wanted reviewed.

What the Court did

The Court refused emergency help: it denied (turned down) Beasley’s request for a temporary pause of his execution. It also refused to hear his case, denying (turning down) his petition for Supreme Court review. 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 89 rulings on capital applications decided without a response came 2 to 5 days after filing, and the median was 3 days; this one was ruled on 5 days after filing.

What it means

The emergency ruling addressed only the request for a temporary pause; it did not decide the underlying legal questions. The Florida Supreme Court’s ruling remains in place. The docket lists no related case on the main issues and no argument date.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A405. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked November 3, 2026