Overview
- U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe inspected 34 panels stored at the National Constitution Center and said they were not destroyed, noting some marks and possible damage still under review.
- Her order requires secure storage of all removed materials and bars any further removals or alterations at the President’s House until the court decides next steps.
- Rufe directed Philadelphia to refine its preliminary injunction request and granted the federal government additional time to respond.
- National Park Service crews took down the interpretive panels on Jan. 22 under President Trump’s executive order to revise materials judged to conflict with shared national values.
- Advocates who viewed the storage setup described the handling as a desecration, and the judge earlier rebuked a government argument about controlling the site’s message as “dangerous.”