Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/583

 502us2$27K 01-22-99 08:37:00 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 502 U. S. 410 (1992)

425

Scalia, J., dissenting

phrase “allowed secured claim,” which appears later in § 506(d), a meaning compatible with that compelled by § 506(a). But that is its only virtue. To begin with, the interpretation renders some of the language in § 506(d) surplusage. If the phrase “[t]o the extent that a lien secures a claim” describes only that portion of a claim that is secured by actual economic value, then the later phrase “is not an allowed secured claim” should instead have read simply “is not allowed.” For the phrase “allowed secured claim” itself describes a claim that is actually secured in light of § 506(a)’s calculations. Another reading of § 506(d)’s opening passage is available, one that does not assume such clumsy draftsmanship—and that employs, to boot, a much more natural reading of the phrase “lien secures a claim.” The latter ordinarily describes the relationship between a lien and a claim, not the relationship between the value of the property subject to the lien and the amount of the claim. One would say that a “mortgage secures the claim” for the purchase price of a house, even if the value of the house was inadequate to satisfy the full amount of the claim. In other words, “[t]o the extent that a lien secures a claim” means in § 506(d) what it ordinarily means: “to the extent a lien provides its holder with a right to retain property in full or partial satisfaction of a claim.” It means that is not, at least in common parlance, unsecured. . . . [I]t is inconsistent to say—as petitioner urges—that the prime situation at which the provision is directed is one where, because the collateral is worth less than the amount of the claim, the lien in fact fails to secure the claim. Under petitioner’s reading, a provision that applies ‘[t]o the extent that a lien secures a claim’ actually applies only to the extent that the lien does not secure the claim.” Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 9 (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted). It is of little consequence, however, whether the Government espoused this position or not. In either event, it is a possible interpretation (more plausible, I think, than the one the Court adopts) that merits consideration by those concerned with text.