860
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
tion of an application for a writ of habeas corpus. Ante, at 857-858.
As the Court explains, § 848(q) must be read to apply prior to the filing of a habeas petition. It is almost meaningless to provide a lawyer to pursue claims on federal habeas if the lawyer is not available to help prepare the petition. First, the habeas petition, unlike a complaint, must allege the factual underpinning of the petitioner's claims. See Habeas Corpus Rule 2(c) ("The petition . . . shall specify all the grounds for relief which are available to the petitioner . . . and shall set forth in summary form the facts supporting each of the grounds thus specified"). Furthermore, district courts are authorized to summarily dismiss petitions which appear on their face to be meritless. See Habeas Corpus Rule 4. And our carefully crafted doctrines of waiver and abuse of the writ make it especially important that the first petition adequately set forth all of a state prisoner's colorable grounds for relief. Indeed, Congress expressly recognized "the seriousness of the possible penalty and . . . the unique and complex nature of the litigation." 21 U. S. C. § 848(q)(7). Moreover, the statute entitles capital defendants not only to qualified counsel, but also to "investigative, expert or other services . . . reasonably necessary for the representation of the defendant." § 848(q)(9). For such services to be meaningful in the habeas context, they also must be available prior to the filing of a first habeas petition. See ante, at 855.
In my view, however, petitioner is not entitled under present law to a stay of execution while counsel prepares a habeas petition. The habeas statute provides in relevant part that "[a] justice or judge of the United States before whom a habeas corpus proceeding is pending, may . . . stay any proceeding against the person detained in any State court." 28 U. S. C. § 2251. While this provision authorizes a stay in the habeas context, it does not explicitly allow a stay prior to the filing of a petition, and our cases have made it clear
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