130
Opinion of the Court
the FCA, Congress then raised the fine from $2,000 to the current range of $5,000 to $10,000, and raised the ceiling on damages recoverable under § 3729(a) from double to treble. False Claims Amendments Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99-562, § 2(7), 100 Stat. 3153. In Stevens, we spoke of this change as turning what had been a "remedial" provision into an "essentially punitive" one. 529 U. S., at 784, 785. The County relies on this characterization to argue that, even if municipalities were covered by the term "person" from 1863 to 1986, Congress's adoption of a "punitive" remedy entailed the elimination of municipal liability in 1986.
Although we did indeed find the punitive character of the treble damages provision a reason not to read "person" to include a State, see id., at 785, it does not follow that the punitive feature has the force to show congressional intent to repeal implicitly the existing definition of that word, which included municipalities. To begin with it is important to realize that treble damages have a compensatory side, serving remedial purposes in addition to punitive objectives. See, e. g., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U. S. 614, 635-636 (1985) (citing Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, Inc., 429 U. S. 477, 485-486 (1977)); American Soc. of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corp., 456 U. S. 556, 575 (1982); see also Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U. S. 143, 151 (1987). While the tipping point between payback and punishment defies general formulation, being dependent on the workings of a particular statute and the course of particular litigation, the facts about the FCA show that the damages multiplier has compensatory traits along with the punitive.
There is no question that some liability beyond the amount of the fraud is usually "necessary to compensate the Government completely for the costs, delays, and inconveniences occasioned by fraudulent claims." Bornstein, supra, at 315; see United States v. Halper, 490 U. S. 435, 445 (1989) (noting that the Government's injury includes "not merely the
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