326
Opinion of the Court
The Rules also afford the district court substantial discretion in the conduct of a case once an answer has been ordered. It may decide to order expansion of the record to facilitate a disposition on the merits without the need for an evidentiary hearing. Habeas Corpus Rule 7. Discovery is available only if "the judge in the exercise of his discretion and for good cause shown grants leave." Habeas Corpus Rule 6(a). And the district court is afforded a degree of discretion in determining whether to hold an evidentiary hearing. See Habeas Corpus Rule 8(a); Townsend, 372 U. S., at 318; Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U. S. 1, 11-12 (1992). Thus, the district court is afforded substantial discretion to expedite proceedings, cf. Barefoot, supra, at 894-895, in order quickly to dispose of meritless first petitions while at the same time preserving the important right of those raising serious habeas questions to have their claims thoroughly considered by the district court.
Third, a specific federal Habeas Corpus Rule, Rule 9(a), directly addresses the primary factor—delay—that led the Court of Appeals to dismiss the petition for "equitable reasons." That Rule says:
"Delayed petitions. A petition may be dismissed if it appears that the state of which the respondent is an officer has been prejudiced in its ability to respond to the petition by delay in its filing unless the petitioner shows that it is based on grounds of which he could not have had knowledge by the exercise of reasonable diligence before the circumstances prejudicial to the state occurred." (Emphasis added.)
The Rule applies because Lonchar's petition is a "delayed petition." And the language of the Rule requires, as a condition of dismissal, a finding of "prejudice," which the District Court was not asked to, and did not, make. (Because the State specifically disavows reliance upon Rule 9(a), we do not consider what would constitute sufficient "prejudice"
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