862
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
The absence of such explicit authority in the habeas statute is evidence that Congress did not intend federal courts to enter stays of execution in the absence of some showing on the merits.
Moreover, just as the counsel provisions of § 848(q) are intended to apply before the submission of a petition, the text and structure of the federal habeas statute suggest that the stay provision contained in § 2251 is intended to apply only after a petition has been filed. Although the statute does not specifically identify when "a habeas corpus proceeding is pending," ibid., other provisions of the statute show that there is no "pending" habeas corpus proceeding until an application for habeas corpus has been filed, which is the mechanism for "institut[ing]" a proceeding under the statute. For example, § 2254(d) refers to "any proceeding instituted in a Federal court by an application for a writ of habeas corpus" (emphasis added). Another statute setting filing fees provides that "the parties instituting any . . . proceeding in [district court must] pay a filing fee of $120, except that on application for a writ of habeas corpus the filing fee shall be $5." 28 U. S. C. § 1914(a) (emphasis added). This indicates that the institution of a proceeding requires the filing of an "application," which petitioner has not done. See § 2242 (an "[a]pplication for a writ of habeas corpus . . . shall allege the facts concerning the applicant's commitment or detention"); Habeas Corpus Rule 2(a) ("[T]he application shall be in the form of a petition").
The rules governing § 2254 cases confirm this conclusion. Although originally enacted by this Court, the rules were amended by Congress and approved as amended. See Pub. L. 94-426, § 1, 90 Stat. 1334 (1976). By their terms, the habeas rules only apply to "procedure[s] in the United States district courts on applications under 28 U. S. C. § 2254." Rule 1(a) (emphasis added). See also Habeas Corpus Rule 2 (referring to "[a]pplicants in present custody" and "[a]pplicants subject to future custody"). These same rules also
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