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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Glossary

Emergency application

Definition

An emergency application asks the Supreme Court to act quickly, usually to pause a lower court's order or block a law or policy while the case goes on.

Track the emergency docket

Why it matters

The answer decides which rules apply while the case is fought out, and that stretch can last months or years.

In practice

The application goes first to the circuit justice (the justice who oversees that region's courts). That justice can act alone, ask the other side to respond by a deadline, or refer it to the full Court.

Check what is being asked, who filed it, and whether the Court asked for a response or referred it to all nine justices.

Common confusion

Not every application is an emergency. Most just ask for more time to file papers; the emergency docket covers requests to act on the dispute itself.

Examples

DeniedPausing an executionJesse Guardado v. Richard Comerford, Secretary, Florida Department of CorrectionsJesse Guardado, a Florida prisoner under a death sentence, asks the Supreme Court to pause a ruling by the Eleventh Circuit. The docket identifies the request as a temporary pause of his execution. The application and appeals court ruling are not included, so the record gives no further details about the dispute.Emergency application26A634Awaiting actionPausing a bankruptcy rulingPaul Schultz v. H. Jason GoldPaul Schultz asks the Supreme Court to temporarily pause a ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Tenth Circuit. The record does not explain what the ruling or the dispute between Schultz and H. Jason Gold concerns.Emergency application26A658Awaiting actionPausing a court rulingPaul Schultz v. Kevin McCarthyPaul Schultz, a private party, asks the Supreme Court to pause a Fourth Circuit ruling temporarily, seeking a stay (a temporary pause). The record does not describe what the ruling says or what the dispute concerns.Emergency application26A657

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