Judge orders slavery exhibit must be restored at President's House in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge has ordered the Department of the Interior to immediately restore slavery exhibits at the President’s House site in Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park.

What we know:

In a memorandum filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the City of Philadelphia, effectively halting the federal government's efforts to alter the historic site under a recent executive order. 

The judge ruled that the federal government’s removal of the displays was unlawful and "arbitrary and capricious."

Immediate restoration

The court found that the removal of the displays caused "irreparable harm" by erasing historical truth and undermining public trust.

Judge Rufe mandated that all 34 panels and video exhibits must be re-installed; removed items must not be damaged or destroyed; and further alterations made to the site must be made with the written mutual agreement of the City of Philadelphia.

What we don't know:

The judge has yet to give a deadline date for when the removed panels and video exhibits must be returned and restored at the site.

What they're saying:

The court’s opinion likened the government’s actions to the totalitarian regime in George Orwell’s "1984."

"As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984 now existed... this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims to dissemble and disassemble historical truths," Judge Rufe wrote. "It does not."

The judge rejected the government’s argument that it had the absolute right to "choose the message it wants to convey" at federal sites. The opinion noted that an agency cannot "arbitrarily decide what is true, based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership."

The backstory:

The legal battle centers on the President’s House, the site of the first official presidential residence used by George Washington and John Adams. 

The open-air exhibit, which opened in 2010, memorialized nine enslaved people owned by George Washington, and addressed the history of slavery in early America. 

On January 22, the National Park Service removed 34 educational panels and deactivated accompanying video exhibits under an executive order that directed the Secretary of the Interior to remove content that "inappropriately disparage[s] Americans past or living" and to focus instead on "the greatness of the achievements... of the American people."

The City of Philadelphia sued, arguing that the removal violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and breached decades-old cooperative agreements.