U.S. Court OKs Extradition of IRA Member

A federal appeals court today approved the extradition of former Irish Republican Army member William Quinn to England for trial in the 1975 murder of a London police constable.

By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal judge’s ruling that the charges against Quinn were exempt from extradition because they were “incident to and in the course of a political uprising.”

“Although an uprising existed in Northern Ireland at the time the charged offenses were committed, there was no uprising in England,” said the appeals court in an opinion by Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

The “political” exception to extradition, part of international law and incorporated into a treaty between the United States and Britain, applies only to acts in furtherance of an uprising within the boundaries of one’s own land, Reinhardt said.

“It does not cover terrorism or criminal conduct exported to other locations,” he said.

Quinn, who has been in jail since his 1981 arrest in Daly City, south of San Francisco, is expected to appeal the ruling.

He is charged with the February, 1975, murder of London Constable Stephen Tibble, who was shot three times.

In resisting extradition, Quinn has contended the killing was political because the killer was trying to escape capture and questioning by authorities about Provisional IRA activities. However, he has denied being the murderer.