Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre, researchers who interviewed for IRA members for a Boston College oral history project, have announced their intention to ask the United States Supreme Court to rule that the tapes should not be handed over to the British authorities.
On Friday, the First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston made the decision not to rehear their case. The three-judge panel of the appeals court had previously rejected their case in July 2012.
In a joint statement, the men said their lawyers would argue that "the MLAT [Mutual legal assistance treaty] bestows upon the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland ] greater powers in relation to the serving of subpoenas in the US than could be exercised by, for instance, the FBI.
"US citizens could challenge a subpoena served by the FBI on First and Fifth Amendment grounds but are precluded from doing so in the case of subpoenas served by foreign powers under an MLAT,” the BBC reports.
Prosecutors, acting on behalf of the British authorities in the UK, have issued subpoenas seeking information on the murder of Jean McConville in 1972, at the hand of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). They have admitted involvement.
The Belfast Project tapes include interviews with convicted bomber Delores Price. In a separate interview with a newspaper Price claimed that she drove McConville, a mother of ten, to her death.
These subpoenas were issued under a Mutual Legal Assistance treaty between the United States and Britain.
The Belfast Project’s aim was to document “The Troubles”. The researchers had promised their sources that the information would not be released until their death. The interviews were recorded between 2001 and 2006.
Moloney, the director of the project, and McIntyre, a former IRA member, believe they could be in danger if the interviews are released. They also say that the release of these interviews would have a chilling effect on the future of academic research.
A spokesperson for Boston College, Jack Dunn, had no comment when approached by Boston.com.
Separately the Boston College is the midst of a legal battle of separate over a second subpoena. They will argue their appeal in court next Friday.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.merefalow | Sep 04, 2012, 08:53 PM EDT
this stinks always has,just how does this sit with the peace process,
warrenpoint00 | Sep 04, 2012, 11:02 AM EDT
If the british want an inquiry into events in Ireland recorded in the historical archives of Boston college then the Irish people should demand a public enquiry for the murder of Irish citizens by the military wing of that same british government.The relatives of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings the worst atrocity ever in Ireland for one are long overdue an explanation for the murders of their loved ones by that same british establishment that prides itself on being a sovereign democracy.Yeah right.
bunkerhill | Sep 04, 2012, 09:27 AM EDT
Great posts. For myself, if inquiries are to be conducted the first one I would like to see is the name and investigation of the British Commander who ordered his British troops to fire into a peaceful group of Irish men, women and children. They were marching for their civil rights which were denied them in Northern Ireland. What hatred and contempt this man must have had for the Irish? What was it in his background and upbringing that made him and the troops that fired feel that way? It any other army on Earth had done that there would have been world wide outcries. Famed American author Gail Sheehy standing on the sidelines tell of a thirteen year old boy standing next to her being killed with a bullet in the forehead. He was not even in the march. British Empire my foot. It must have been devastingly hard to take on the Australian Aborigines or the Africans, along with Native Americans in Canada,Islanders etc. British plundering is the true description. Our Founding Fathers chose not to be royal and sit in palaces while plundering the world. The legacy is still in place and should be honored in every instance.
BigDaddy | Sep 03, 2012, 11:38 AM EDT
The people involved seem to have been laboring under the delusion that the Constitution still protects them. Only the rich, the powerful and corporations are protected in America; all else are subject to the whim of those in power. If you do not realize that, you haven't been paying attention for the last 50 years. America supports some terrorists (Pinochet, the Shah of Iran, the contras, et al) and punish others like the IRA.
thetint | Sep 03, 2012, 07:15 AM EDT
Wasn't George Washington considered a terrorist by the British? McIntyre and Moloney have a very discredited role in this never mind the fools who gave the interviews.
DanOLoingsigh | Sep 03, 2012, 04:49 AM EDT
Certain posters call for disclosure and enquiries for 'their' victims, eg Bloody Sunday, but when disclosure could embarrass their heroes, they want things 'hushed up'..let's have some consistency, please?
seanomelb | Sep 02, 2012, 06:44 PM EDT
pine buffalo the contents are secret and there contents unknown. Can you explain your concept of justice as the USA is responsible for more civilian deaths over the last 50 years than occurred in Ireland in the last 150 years and then some.What slippery high moral ground are you on?
Bhrighde | Sep 02, 2012, 03:13 PM EDT
The United States and England (the British Empire, what an embarressing name) are two peas in a pod. Check out they're votes in the U.N., always the same. These are the two countries that consistently vote to protect capitalism and always with the treat of violence (military intervention). This is the reason for the treaty, to protect capitalism, and any threat, however old, is going to be pursued. The English still consider the IRA a threat. This is also a first amendment issue. If Boston College is forced to relinquish the tapes this will put an end to academic reaserch. It is absolutely the highest form of pretension that the English government demand to interfere with the U.S. constitution. I wholeheartedly agree with ScullsSoulmate.
ScullysSoulmate | Sep 02, 2012, 02:32 PM EDT
WHAT A DISGRACE that this has been allowed to proceed this far!!! Would the US Government cave in to threats from a foreign government when STATE SECRETS derived from PROTECTED INTERVIEWS with WAR HEROS were questioned?? NOT A HOPE. The Irish Government should STAND UP AND DEMAND SECRECY FOR NATIONAL SECRETS UNDER THE WAR ACT. This is WRONG. WHERE ARE ALL THE SECRET RECORDS OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE HANDS OF MARGARET THATCHER? MANY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE AS WELL!
citizen69 | Sep 02, 2012, 02:24 PM EDT
Any evidence that can help finally bring truth & justice for innocent victims must be welcomed.
Conchubar | Sep 02, 2012, 01:17 PM EDT
As for THIS American citizen, I'm incensed that our Constitution can be usurped by a treaty with a foreign government. I dismissed the recent hype that our Second Amendment rights were in jepordy by a treaty being entered into by the Obama administration, thinking that there was no way we could lose our Constitutional guarantees by the mere signing of a treaty. It now appears I was being pretty naive. A little research reveals that this MLAT treaty was endorsed by Clinton.
PineBuffalo | Sep 02, 2012, 12:51 PM EDT
As an American citizen, I think it was stupid of those interviewed to admit culpability in murder. Once they did so, I heartily agree with our court's decision: they need to meet justice.
kubs | Sep 02, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT
Wonder what the patriots of 1776 would think about the MLAT. Brits, if you want to make treaties with U.S. government , that is up to you, but both please stay out of private citizens' rights.