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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Carl Gordon v. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California

Denied
No. 26A636Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice KaganFrom United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court denied the request on November 4, 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 4 days after filing

What's being asked

Carl Gordon, a private party, asks the Supreme Court to temporarily pause a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The record does not describe that ruling or explain the underlying dispute. The case names California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other parties.

What the Court did

The Court refused emergency help: Justice Kagan denied (turned down) Gordon’s request for a temporary pause. The Court did not publish how the justices voted; this emergency ruling does not decide who wins the underlying case.

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 300 rulings on applications decided without a response came 8 to 28 days after filing, and the median was 14 days; this one was ruled on 4 days after filing.

What it means

This ruling addresses only a temporary pause: the Ninth Circuit’s ruling remains in place, and the Court did not decide who wins the case. No related Supreme Court case is listed, and the application was not set for argument.

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A636. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked November 4, 2026