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VERMONT AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES v.
UNITED STATES ex rel. STEVENS
Opinion of the Court

Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case presents the question whether a private individ-
ual may bring suit in federal court on behalf of the United
States against a State (or state agency) under the False
Claims Act, 31 U. S. C. §§ 3729–3733.

I

Originally enacted in 1863, the False Claims Act (FCA) is
the most frequently used of a handful of extant laws creating
a form of civil action known as qui tam.1 As amended, the

R. Bierig, Paul E. Kalb, Michael L. Ile, Anne M. Murphy, and Leonard
A. Nelson; for the American Petroleum Institute by Donald B. Craven,
Clarence T. Kipps, Jr., Alan I. Horowitz, and Peter B. Hutt II; for FMC
Corporation by Donald B. Ayer, Gregory G. Katsas, and John B. Kennedy;
for the National Governors’ Association et al. by Richard Ruda and James
I. Crowley; for the Orleans Parish School Board et al. by Sam A. LeBlanc
III and Robert Markle; for the Regents of the University of Minnesota
et al. by Mark B. Rotenberg and Mark A. Bohnhorst.

Briefs of amici curiae urging afﬁrmance were ﬁled for the National
WhistleBlower Center by Stephen M. Kohn, Michael D. Kohn, and David
K. Colapinto; and for Taxpayers Against Fraud by Evan H. Caminker
and Jonathan S. Massey.

Briefs of amici curiae were ﬁled for the Aerospace Industries Associa-
tion of America, Inc., by Charles G. Cole, Jerald S. Howe, Jr., and Shannen
W. Cofﬁn; for the American Clinical Laboratory Association by Hope S.
Foster; for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America
et al. by Herbert L. Fenster, Stephen A. Bokat, and Robin S. Conrad; for
the Federation of American Health Systems by Walter E. Dellinger and
Charles R. Work; for Friends of the Earth et al. by James S. Chandler, Jr.,
Bruce J. Terris, and Carolyn Smith Pravlik; for the National Employment
Lawyers Association by Frederick M. Morgan, Jr., James B. Helmer, Jr.,
and Paula A. Brantner; for the Project on Government Oversight by
Charles Tiefer and Jonathan W. Cuneo; and for Taxpayers Against Fraud
by Evan H. Caminker and Vicki C. Jackson.

1 Qui tam is short for the Latin phrase qui tam pro domino rege quam
pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, which means “who pursues this action
on our Lord the King’s behalf as well as his own.” The phrase dates from
at least the time of Blackstone. See 3 W. Blackstone, Commentaries *160.
Three other qui tam statutes, all also enacted over 100 years ago, re-
main on the books. See 25 U. S. C. § 81 (providing cause of action and