Emergency Docket 2022-23
The Supreme Court’s emergency docket, also known as the shadow docket, consists of applications seeking immediate action from the court. Unlike the merits docket, these cases are handled on an expedited basis with limited briefing and no oral argument, and the court often resolves them in unsigned orders with little or no explanation. This page shows significant emergency applications that have been filed during the current term.
Applications involving the death penalty are shaded in gray. Applications involving all other topics are in white.
Case pages are listed by date filed. View this list sorted by case name.
Pending applications
| Docket | Case Page | Issue(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 23A243 | Murthy v. Missouri | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana governing thousands of federal officials' and employees' speech concerning moderation of content posted on social-media platforms. |
Decided applications
| Docket | Case Page | Issue(s) | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23A241 | Allen v. Caster | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the district court’s application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to enjoin Alabama’s 2023 districting plan. | Emergency application for stay denied on Sept. 26, 2023. |
| 23A231 | Allen v. Milligan | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the district court’s application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to enjoin Alabama’s 2023 districting plan. | Emergency application for stay is denied on Sept. 26, 2023. |
| 23A116 | GRACE v. City of Miami, Florida | Whether the Supreme Court should vacate the order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Cir. that granted a stay pending appeal of the district court's interim remedial redistricting plan. | Emergency application to vacate stay is denied on Aug. 17, 2023. |
| 23A87 | Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the mandate of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit authorizing Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy plan. | Emergency application for stay is granted on Aug. 10, 2023. |
| 23A82 | Garland v. Vanderstok | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas baring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives from enforcing a 2022 rule regulating "ghost guns" as firearms. | Emergency application for stay is granted on Aug. 8, 2023. Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would deny the application for stay. |
| 23A73 | City of Tulsa, Oklahoma v. Hooper | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit's mandate that would prevent the City of Tulsa from enforcing violations of municipal ordinances against Indian inhabitants. | Emergency application for stay is denied on Aug. 4, 2023. |
| 23A60 | Delaware Department of Insurance v. U.S. | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit enforcing an Internal Revenue Service summons on the Delaware Department of Insurance for information related to a tax shelter promoter examination. | Emergency application for stay is withdrawn on July 26, 2023. |
| 23A51 | Barber v. Ivey | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of James Edward Barber. | Emergency application for stay is denied on July 21, 2023. |
| 23A35 | Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. The Wilderness Society | Whether the Supreme Court should vacate the orders of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit blocking the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. | Emergency application to vacate stay is granted on July 27, 2023. |
| 22A1069 | Owen v. Florida | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Duane E. Owen. | Emergency application for stay is denied on June 14, 2023. |
| 22A948 | National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville | Can the government ban the sale, purchase, and possession of certain semi-automatic firearms and firearm magazines when there is no analogous historical ban as required by D.C. v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen? | Emergency application for injunction is denied on May 17, 2023 |
| 22A949 | Barwick v. DeSantis | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Darryl Bryan Barwick. | Emergency application for stay is denied on May 3, 2023. |
| 22A941 | Glossip v. Oklahoma | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Richard Eugene Glossip. | Emergency application for stay is granted on May 5, 2023. |
| 22A901 | Danco Laboratories v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas's order blocking the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone. | Emergency application for stay is granted on April 21, 2023. |
| 22A902 | Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas's order blocking the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone. | Emergency application for stay is granted on April 4, 2023. |
| 22A881 | Gaskin v. Florida | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Louis Bernard Gaskin. | Emergency application for stay of execution is denied on April 11, 2023. |
| 22A800 | West Virginia v. B.P.J. | Whether the Supreme Court should vacate the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit's injunction of a West Virginia law that bans girls who are transgender from participating in girl's sports in school. | Emergency application to vacate injunction is denied on April 4, 2023. |
| 22A788 | Brown v. Texas | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Arthur Brown Jr. | Application for stay of execution is denied on March 9, 2023. |
| 22A724 | Balentine v. Texas | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of John Balentine. | Application for stay of execution is denied on Feb. 8, 2023. |
| 22A709 | Taylor v. Vandergriff | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Leonard Taylor. | Emergency application for stay of execution is denied on Feb. 7, 2023. |
| 22A683 | Ruiz v. Texas | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Wesley Ruiz. | Application for stay of execution denied on February 1, 2023. |
| 22A603 | Fratta v. Texas | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Robert Alan Fratta. | Application for stay of execution is denied on January 10, 2023. |
| 22A557 | Antonyuk v. Nigrelli | Whether the Supreme Court should vacate the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit's stay of a preliminary injunction designed to limit New York's enforcement of a gun control statute. | Emergency application to vacate stay of preliminary injunction is denied on January 11, 2023. |
| 22A543 | Fratta v. Lumpkin | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Robert Alan Fratta. | Application for stay of execution denied on January 9, 2023. |
| 22A474 | R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Bonta | Whether the Tobacco Control Act expressly preempts state and local laws that prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products. | Application for injunction denied on December 12, 2022. |
| 22A463 | Johnson v. Missouri | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Kevin Johnson. | Application for stay of execution denied on November 29, 2022. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson would have granted the application. |
| 22A441 | Hamm v. Smith | Whether the court should vacate the stay of execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith. | Application to vacate the stay of execution is granted on November 17, 2022. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would deny the application. |
| 22A439 | Fairchild v. Farris | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Richard Fairchild. | Application for stay of execution is denied on November 17, 2022. Justice Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision of this application. |
| 22A425 | Hooper v. Shinn | Whether the court should stay the execution of Murray Hooper. | Application for stay of execution is denied on November 16, 2022. |
| 22A424 | Barbee v. Collier | Whether the court should stay the execution of Stephen Barbee. | Application for stay of execution is denied on November 16, 2022. |
| 22A423 | Smith v. Alabama | Whether the court should stay the execution of Kenneth Smith. | Application for stay of execution is denied on November 16, 2022. |
| 22A414 | Johnson v. Missouri | Whether the court should stay the execution of Kevin Johnson. | Application for stay of execution denied on November 23, 2022. |
| 22A486 | Fratta v. Texas | Whether the Supreme Court should stay the execution of Robert Alan Fratta. | Application for stay of execution denied on January 9, 2023. |
| 22A362 | Trump v. Committee on Ways and Means | Whether the Supreme Court should stay a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that held that the House Ways and Means Committee may obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns. | Emergency application for stay is denied on Nov. 22, 2022. |
| 22A350 | Ward v. Thompson | Whether the court should block a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee seeking the phone records of Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party. | Application for stay and injunction is denied on November 14, 2022. Justices Thomas and Alito would grant the application for stay and injunction. |
| 22A337 | Graham v. Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury | Whether the Supreme Court should block a district court’s ruling that ordered Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible election interference. | Emergency application for stay and injunction pending appeal denied on November 1, 2022. |
| 22A317 | Cole v. Farris | (1) Whether it violates the Eighth Amendment and this court's decisions in Ford v. Wainwright and Panetti v. Quarterman for a state court to bypass procedural safeguards when there are disputed issues of fact; (2) Whether it violates the Fourteenth Amendment for a warden, who is directly in charge of carrying out the execution, to also assume the role of gatekeeper to the execution competency process; and (3) Whether the state of Oklahoma's procedural framework for determining competency to be executed violates the Eighth Amendment, and the court's decision in Ford v. Wainwright and Panetti v. Quarterman. | Application for emergency stay is denied on October 19, 2022. |
| 22A283 | Trump v. U.S. | Whether the Supreme Court should vacate the portion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit's stay of a Special Master order that limits the scope of review of documents seized from President Donald Trump's home to those bearing classification markings. | Emergency application to vacate stay is denied on Oct. 13, 2022. |
