904
Opinion of the Court
A habeas petitioner, unlike the usual civil litigant in federal court, is not entitled to discovery as a matter of ordinary course. Thus, in Harris v. Nelson, 394 U. S. 286, 295 (1969), we concluded that the "broad discovery provisions" of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure did not apply in habeas proceedings. We held, however, that the All Writs Act, 28 U. S. C. § 1651, gave federal courts the power to "fashion appropriate modes of procedure," 394 U. S., at 299, including discovery, to dispose of habeas petitions "as law and justice require," id., at 300. We then recommended that "the rule-making machinery . . . be invoked to formulate rules of practice with respect to federal habeas corpus . . . proceedings." Id., at 300, n. 7. Accordingly, in 1976, we promulgated and Congress adopted the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases. Of particular relevance to this case is Rule 6(a), which provides:
"A party shall be entitled to invoke the processes of discovery available under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure if, and to the extent that, the judge in the exercise of his discretion and for good cause shown grants leave to do so, but not otherwise."
Before addressing whether petitioner is entitled to discovery under this Rule to support his judicial-bias claim, we must first identify the "essential elements" of that claim. See United States v. Armstrong, 517 U. S. 456, 468 (1996). Of course, most questions concerning a judge's qualifications to hear a case are not constitutional ones, because the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment establishes a constitutional floor, not a uniform standard. Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Lavoie, 475 U. S. 813, 828 (1986). Instead, these questions are, in most cases, answered by common law, statute, or the professional standards of the bench and bar. See, e. g., id., at 820-821; Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U. S. 510, 523 (1927); 28 U. S. C. §§ 144, 455; ABA Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 3C(1)(a) (1980). But the floor established by the Due Process Clause clearly requires a "fair trial in a fair tribunal,"
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