William Joseph Quinn v. Glen Robinson, United States Marshal for the Northern District of California

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3184 (1982) and the governing treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“United Kingdom”), Extradition Treaty of June 8, 1972, United States — United Kingdom, 28 U.S.T. 227, T.I.A.S. No. 8468 [hereinafter cited as Treaty ], the United Kingdom seeks the extradition of William Joseph Quinn, a member of the Irish Republican Army (“IRA”), in order to try him for the commission of a murder in 1975 and for conspiring to cause explosions in London in 1974 and 1975. After a United States magistrate found Quinn extraditable, Quinn filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court determined that Quinn cannot be extradited because a long-standing principle of international law which has been incorporated in the extradition treaty at issue — the political offense exception— bars extradition for the charged offenses. The United States government, on behalf of the United Kingdom, appeals.

This ease requires us to examine the parameters of a foreign sovereign’s right to bring about the extradition of an accused who maintains that the offenses with which he is charged are of a political character.…

(concurring in the judgment):

I concur in the judgment, but I cannot concur in the lengthy opinion of Judge Reinhardt and the very extensive dicta that it expounds.

I agree that the magistrate had jurisdiction, including jurisdiction to determine whether the offenses with which Quinn is charged were of a political character. I agree that the district court had jurisdiction bn habeas corpus to decide that question and that we have jurisdiction on appeal to consider it. I have no doubt that the evidence is sufficient to enable, indeed, to require, the magistrate, the district court, and this court to say that the offenses charged against Quinn are extraditable offenses, and that the only basis upon which extradition could be denied is the treaty provision that “extradition shall not be granted if ... the offense ... is regarded by the requested party, [the United States], as one of a political character.”

My principal difficulty is with part V of Judge Reinhardt’s thoughtful and careful opinion, and especially with part V, B, 2, and the geographical limitation announced there, reading as follows:

.The limitation may be useful to us in this case, but I doubt that it is a valid…

concurring and dissenting:

I respectfully dissent from my colleagues’ conclusion that Quinn may now be extradited on the murder charge. The decision facing this court is excruciatingly difficult. Quinn is accused of hideous crimes — violent and cruel and some of them cowardly. Innocent victims were targeted for receipt of letter bombs mailed anonymously. A decision that the full force of the law should not be invoked to punish persons found guilty of such acts seems inconceivable. However, the political offense exception to the treaty of extradition has a long history of protecting persons rebelling against their governments.

This longstanding tradition among western nations is an acknowledgment of the right of the governed to oppose unjust governments. Although the nations, ours included, have acknowledged the heinous nature of violent political crimes, they have nonetheless, under treaties and statutes, denied extradition when an individual’s conduct falls within the narrow exception for the “political offense.”

I find that I can concur in much of Judge Reinhardt’s opinion. In part I, Judge Reinhardt simply and eloquently outlines the facts and the difficult dilemma that…

783 F.2d 776 54 USLW 2449 William Joseph QUINN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Glen ROBINSON, United States Marshal For the Northern District of California, Respondent-Appellant. No. 83-2455. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted July 11, 1984. Decided Feb. 18, 1986. Mark N. Zanides, Asst. U.S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for respondent-appellant. Patrick Sarsfield Hallinan, Colleen Mary Rohan, Dale A. Drozd, Hallinan, Osterhoudt & Poplack, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before DUNIWAY, FLETCHER, and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges. REINHARDT, Circuit Judge: 1 Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3184 (1982) and the governing treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("United Kingdom"), Extradition Treaty of June 8, 1972, United States--United Kingdom, 28 U.S.T. 227, T.I.A.S. No. 8468 [hereinafter cited as Treaty ], the United Kingdom seeks the extradition of William Joseph Quinn, a member of the Irish Republican Army ("IRA"), in order to try him for the commission of a murder in 1975 and for conspiring to cause…