Opinion ID: 758855
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: standards for granting a stay.

Text: 21 Under 28 U.S.C. § 2251, a federal court is authorized to enter a stay of execution pending review of any habeas corpus proceeding. In Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 895, 103 S.Ct. 3383, 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983), the Supreme Court set out the proper standard for granting a stay of execution: [t]he granting of a stay should reflect the presence of substantial grounds upon which relief might be granted. The Court added: 22 In requiring a 'question of some substance', or a 'substantial showing of the denial of [a] federal right,' obviously the petitioner need not show that he should prevail on the merits. He has already failed in that endeavor. Rather, he must demonstrate that the issues are debatable among jurists of reason; that a court could resolve the issues [in a different manner]; or that the questions are 'adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.' 23 Id. at 893, n. 4, 103 S.Ct. 3383 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). 24 Finally, the Court explained that essentially the same standard exists for a stay pending a writ of certiorari to the Court following the denial of a writ of habeas corpus by a court of appeals: 25 there must be a reasonable probability that four members of the Court would consider the underlying issue sufficiently meritorious for the grant of certiorari or the notation of probable jurisdiction; there must be a significant possibility of reversal of the lower court's decision; and there must be a likelihood that irreparable harm will result if that decision is not stayed. 26 Id. at 895-96, 103 S.Ct. 3383 (citations omitted). See also Maggio v. Williams, 464 U.S. 46, 104 S.Ct. 311, 78 L.Ed.2d 43 (1983)(applying the standard for granting of a stay pending disposition for certiorari to determining whether a stay granted by a court of appeals should stay in effect). 27