Reprieve for Boston College oral history collection

A last-minute stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has blocked efforts by British authorities to obtain documents from an oral history project at Boston College. While the college was prepared to turn over the documents, as ordered by a lower court, a stay was obtained on behalf of those involved in the oral history project.

The stay -- issued Friday -- followed two December rulings by a district court judge, William G. Young. First, he refused a request by Boston College to have subpoenas for the documents quashed, instead saying that he could conduct a private review of the papers. In the ruling, Judge Young said he would weigh a variety of factors, including U.S. treaty obligations to Britain, and the impact of turning over confidential oral history documents on future academic research. Then last week, in a follow-up ruling, Judge Young ordered the release of documents related to interviews with Dolours Price, a woman in Northern Ireland who backed efforts by the Irish Republican Army to gain independence from Britain.

When Boston College declined to appeal the ruling, two of those who conducted interviews for the project requested the stay -- and it was granted just as the documents were supposed to be turned over to British authorities. The brief stay order said simply that the appeals court was acting "to preserve the status quo" pending a review -- and gave the U.S. government until Monday to respond....