Cite as: 517 U. S. 314 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
to justify application of the Rule in the context of a last-minute habeas petition.) Instead, it asked the Court of Appeals to develop an equitable rule under which a "petition may be dismissed" for "delay in its filing" without the prejudice precondition.
But the history of the Rule makes plain that the prejudice requirement represents a critical element in the balancing of interests undertaken by Congress and the framers of the Rule which courts may not undermine through the exercise of background equitable powers. See Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 487 U. S. 250, 255 (1988) ("The balance struck by the Rule between societal costs and the rights of the accused may not casually be overlooked 'because a court has elected to analyze the question under the supervisory power ' " (quoting United States v. Payner, 447 U. S. 727, 736 (1980)). The Advisory Committee's Note indicates that the very maxim upon which the Court of Appeals relied as authority for acting outside the Rules—the equitable maxim that "the petitioner's conduct may . . . disentitle him to relief," 58 F. 3d, at 592—was taken into account when the Rule's framers drafted Rule 9(a) and included its prejudice requirement. See Advisory Committee's Note on Habeas Corpus Rule 9, 28 U. S. C., p. 484. Moreover, Congress, when considering a draft of the Rule, see 28 U. S. C. § 2074, directly focused upon the prejudice requirement and rejected, by removing from the draft Rule, a provision that would have eased the burden of the prejudice requirement by presuming prejudice after a delay of five years. Compare Rules of Procedure: Communication from the Chief Justice of the United States Transmitting Rules and Forms Governing Proceedings Under Sections 2254 and 2255 of Title 28, H. R. Doc. No. 94-464, pp. 38-39 (1976), with Act of Sept. 28, 1976, Pub. L. 94-426, § 2(9), 90 Stat. 1335. See also H. R. Rep. No. 94-1471, p. 5 (1976) ("[I]t is unsound policy to require the defendant to overcome a presumption of prejudice"). Cf. McCarthy v. Madigan, 503 U. S. 140, 144 (1992)
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