STEVENS, J., dissenting

In this case, as the Court points out, the fact that Rockwell was storing thousands of insolid pondcrete blocks at the Rocky Flats facility had been publicly disclosed by the news media before Stone filed this lawsuit. Ante, at 461, 462-463. In my view, the record establishes that Stone was an original source of the allegations publicly disclosed by the media in June 1989, even though he thought that the deterioration of the pondcrete blocks would be caused by poor engineering rather than a poor formula for the mixture. The search warrant that was executed on June 6, 1989, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit that was released to the news media on June 9, 1989, were both based, in part, on interviews with Stone and on information Stone had provided to the Government, including the 1982 Engineering Order.

With respect to earlier media coverage of the pondcrete leakage discovery in May 1988, however, Stone's status as an original source is less obvious. Stone first went to the FBI with allegations of Rockwell's environmental violations in March 1986. App. 180. He subsequently met with several FBI agents over the course of several years. Id., at 180182. During those meetings he provided the FBI with thousands of pages of documents, including the Engineering Order, in which he predicted that the pondcrete system design would not work. On the basis of that record, it seems likely that Stone (1) had "direct and independent knowledge of the information on which the [publicly disclosed] allegations [we]re based" and (2) voluntarily provided such information to the Government before filing suit. It is, however, his burden to establish that he did so. Because there has been no finding as to whether Stone was an original source

tion underlying the public disclosures, which can easily be determined when an action is filed and need not be revisited during later stages of the litigation.

STEVENS, J., dissenting

as to those public disclosures, I would vacate and remand for a determination whether Stone was in fact an original source of the allegations publicly disclosed by the media in 1988 and 1989.

Syllabus

LIMTIACO, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF GUAM v. CAMACHO, GOVERNOR OF GUAM

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF GUAM

No. 06-116. Argued January 8, 2007-Decided March 27, 2007 The Guam Legislature authorized the Governor to issue bonds to fund the Territory's continuing obligations, but Guam's attorney general refused to sign the necessary contracts, concluding that issuance would violate the debt-limitation provision of Guam's Organic Act, which limits the Territory's public indebtedness to 10 percent of the "aggregate tax valuation of the property in Guam," 48 U. S. C. §1423a. The Governor sought a declaration from the Guam Supreme Court that issuance would not violate the provision, calculating the debt limitation based on the appraised value of property in Guam. Agreeing, the Supreme Court rejected the attorney general's argument to base the limitation on assessed value. The Ninth Circuit granted the attorney general's certiorari petition, but while the appeal was pending, Congress removed the Circuit's jurisdiction over appeals from Guam. Relying on its holding in Santos v. Guam, that Congress had stripped it of jurisdiction over pending appeals, the court dismissed the appeal. The attorney general then filed a petition for certiorari in this Court, even though it was more than 90 days after the Guam Supreme Court's judgment.

Held:

1. The Guam Supreme Court's judgment did not become final, for purposes of this Court's review, until the Ninth Circuit issued its order dismissing the appeal. Certiorari petitions must be filed "within 90 days after the entry of," 28 U. S. C. §2101(c), a lower court's "genuinely final judgment," Hibbs v. Winn, 542 U. S. 88, 98. In some cases, the actions of a party or a lower court suspend the finality of a judgment by "rais[ing] the question whether the court will modify the judgment and alter the parties' rights." Ibid. By granting the petition for certiorari, the Ninth Circuit raised that possibility and thus suspended the finality of the Guam Supreme Court's judgment. Until the Circuit issued its order dismissing the case, the appeal remained pending, and the finality of the judgment remained suspended. Contrary to the Governor's arguments, the judgment was not made final either when Congress enacted the jurisdiction-depriving statute or when the Ninth Circuit decided Santos. This holding is limited to the unique procedural circumstances here. Pp. 487-488.

Syllabus

2. Guam's debt limitation must be calculated according to the assessed valuation of property in the Territory. The term "tax valuation" most naturally means the value to which the tax rate is applied. It therefore means "assessed valuation"-a term consistently defined as a valuation of property for tax purposes. Appraised value is simply market value, which may or may not relate to taxation. The Guam Supreme Court's contrary interpretation-that "tax" limits the kinds of property qualifying for inclusion in the debt-limitation calculation-impermissibly rearranges the statutory language. "Tax” modifies "valuation," not "property." Thus, "tax valuation" refers to the type of valuation to be conducted, not the object that is valued. The court also erred in reasoning that, because the Virgin Islands' debt-limitation provision explicitly refers to "assessed value," Congress must have intended to base Guam's limitation on some other value. Congress' rejection of “assessed" says no more than its rejection of "actual" or "appraised," terms it could have used had it meant actual, market, or appraised value. This Court's interpretation comports with most States' practice of fixing the debt limitations of municipalities to assessed valuation. States use clear language when departing from this approach, but Congress has not done so here. The Governor's additional arguments-that this interpretation would result in no debt limitation at all because Guam may arbitrarily set its assessment rate above 100 percent of market value, and that this Court owes deference to the Guam Supreme Court's interpretation of the Organic Act-are not persuasive. Pp. 488-492. Reversed and remanded.

THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court with respect to Part II, and the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, III, and IV, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA, KENNEDY, and BREYER, JJ., joined. SOUTER, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which STEVENS, GINSBURG, and ALITO, JJ., joined, post, p. 492.

Seth P. Waxman argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Randolph D. Moss and Jonathan G. Cedarbaum.

Beth S. Brinkmann argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Seth M. Galanter, Seth M. Hufstedler, Shirley M. Hufstedler, Arthur B. Clark, Rodney J. Jacob, Daniel M. Benjamin, Kathleen V. Fisher, and Arne D. Wagner.

Opinion of the Court

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Legislature of Guam authorized Guam's Governor to issue bonds to fund the Territory's continuing obligations. Concluding that the bonds would violate the debt-limitation provision of the Organic Act of Guam, § 11, 64 Stat. 387, as amended, 48 U. S. C. § 1423a, the attorney general1 of Guam refused to sign contracts necessary to issue the bonds. In response, the Governor sought a declaration from the Guam Supreme Court that issuance of the bonds would not violate the Organic Act's debt limitation. The Guam Supreme Court held that § 1423a limits Guam's allowed indebtedness to 10 percent of the appraised valuation, not the assessed valuation, of taxable property in Guam. We granted certiorari to decide whether Guam's debt limitation must be calculated according to the assessed or the appraised valuation of property in Guam. We hold that it must be calculated based on the assessed valuation.

I

In 2003, Guam lacked sufficient revenues to pay its obligations. To supplement revenues, the Guam Legislature authorized the Governor to issue bonds worth approximately $400 million. See Guam Pub. L. 27-019. The Governor signed the new legislation and prepared to issue the bonds. However, under Guam law, Guam's attorney general must review and approve all government contracts prior to their execution. Guam Code Ann., Tit. 5, § 22601 (1996). The attorney general concluded that issuance of the bonds would raise the Territory's debt above the level authorized by Guam's Organic Act. See 48 U. S. C. § 1423a (prohibiting debt "in excess of 10 per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of the property in Guam"). He therefore refused to approve the bond contracts.

1 At the time suit was filed, Douglas Moylan served as Guam's attorney general. Alicia Limtiaco has since been elected to the position, and she continues the case in Moylan's place.