Cite as: 512 U. S. 849 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
Duckworth v. Eagan, 492 U. S. 195, 210 (1989) (O'Connor, J., concurring) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). See also ante, at 863 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). We should not lightly assume that Congress intended to expand federal courts' habeas power; this is particularly true regarding their power directly to interfere with state proceedings through granting stays.
Moreover, as Justice O'Connor observes, in expanding the federal courts' power to grant stays, the Court's decision "conflicts with the sound principle underlying our precedents that federal habeas review exists only to review errors of constitutional dimension." Ante, at 861 (concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). Under the Court's interpretation of § 2251, a prisoner may obtain a stay of execution without presenting a single claim to a federal court. Indeed, under the Court's reading of the statute, a federal district court determining whether to enter a stay will no longer have to evaluate whether a prisoner has presented a potentially meritorious constitutional claim. Rather, the court's task will be to determine whether a "capital defendant" who comes to federal court shortly before his scheduled execution has been "dilatory" in pursuing his "right to counsel." Ante, at 858. If he has not been "dilatory," the district court presumably must enter a stay to preserve his "right to counsel" and his "right for that counsel meaningfully to research and present [his] habeas claims." Ibid. In my view, simply by providing for the appointment of counsel in habeas cases, Congress did not intend to achieve such an extraordinary result.
* * *
Because petitioner had not filed an application for habeas relief prior to filing his motion for stay of execution and for appointment of counsel, the courts below correctly determined that they lacked jurisdiction to consider his motion. I respectfully dissent.
873
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