Supreme Court Docket Report - June 22, 2009

Originally published June 22, 2009

Keywords: False Claims Act, qui tam, public disclosure bar, Graham County Soil.

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in one case of interest to the business community:

False Claims Act—"Public Disclosure" Bar

The False Claims Act authorizes "qui tam" suits by "relators"—private citizens acting on behalf of the United States—against those who submit fraudulent claims to the federal government.  31 U.S.C. §§ 3729(a), 3730(b).  In a provision known as the "public disclosure" bar, the Act states, in relevant part, that courts lack jurisdiction over a qui tam action if it is "based upon the public disclosure of allegations or transactions * * * in a congressional, administrative, or Government Accounting Office report, hearing, audit, or investigation * * * , unless the action is brought by * * * an original source of the information."  31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(A).  Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Graham