Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District, et al. v. United States Ex Rel. Karen T. Wilson

Decided March 30, 2010. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 08-304 · 559 U.S. 280 (2010) · Cited 421 times

Holding

The reference to “administrative” reports, audits, and investigations in § 3730(e)(4)(A) encompasses disclosures made in state and local sources as well as federal sources.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Reiter v. Sonotone Corp. · 442 U.S. 330 (1979)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Cook County v. United States Ex Rel. Chandler · 538 U.S. 119 (2003)
• Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States Ex Rel. Stevens · 529 U.S. 765 (2000)
• United States Ex Rel. Marcus v. Hess · 317 U.S. 537 (1943)
• Beecham v. United States · 511 U.S. 368 (1994)
• Russell Motor Car Co. v. United States · 261 U.S. 514 (1923)
• S. D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection · 547 U.S. 370 (2006)
• Rockwell International Corp. v. United States · 549 U.S. 457 (2007)
• Hughes Aircraft Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Schumer · 520 U.S. 939 (1997)
• United States v. Bornstein · 423 U.S. 303 (1976)
• Graham County Soil & Water Conservation District v. United States Ex Rel. Wilson · 545 U.S. 409 (2005)
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. · 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
• Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Davis v. Michigan Department of the Treasury · 489 U.S. 803 (1989)
• Garcia v. United States · 469 U.S. 70 (1984)
• Hamdan v. Rumsfeld · 548 U.S. 557 (2006)
• Erlenbaugh v. United States · 409 U.S. 239 (1972)
• Chandler v. Judicial Council of the Tenth Circuit · 398 U.S. 74 (1970)
• Watson v. Mercer · 33 U.S. 88 (1834)
• Third Nat. Bank in Nashville v. Impac Limited, Inc. · 432 U.S. 312 (1977)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Rigsby · 580 U.S. 26 (2016)
• King v. Burwell · 576 U.S. 473 (2015)
• Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl · 570 U.S. 637 (2013)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Freeman v. Quicken Loans, Inc. · 566 U.S. 624 (2012)
• Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States · 598 U.S. 264 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2010). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).