United States v. Trs. of Boston College, No. 12-1236 (1st Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseBoston College (BC) undertook research into the armed conflict surrounding the independence movement of Northern Ireland during the second half of the Twentieth Century. BC compiled extensive personal interviews and testimonies from formerly active participants in that period. The materials were subject to strict confidentiality agreements entered into between BC and the interviewees. In 2011, a commissioner appointed to represent the United States (Petitioner) issued a subpoena to compel the production by BC of the recordings and/or transcripts of all interviews collected by the project's researchers containing information about an apparent casualty of the interstitial conflict in Northern Ireland. BC filed a motion to quash the subpoena. The district court denied BC's request, ordering that eighty-five interviews in BC's possession be turned over to Petitioner for eventual transfer to UK authorities. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and vacated in part the district court's order, holding that the district court abused its discretion in ordering the production of several of the interviews which did not contain any information relevant to the 2011 subpoena. Remanded.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on July 6, 2012.
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