#third circuit

The federal government removed information from the site of George Washington's home about the nine enslaved people held there.

PHILADELPHIA (CN) — The Third Circuit is gearing up for a legal clash Tuesday between the City of Philadelphia and the Trump administration after the federal government dismantled a public exhibit about the people enslaved by George Washington.

In 2010, the National Park Service and Philadelphia unveiled “The President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation,” an open-air exhibit across the street from Independence Hall and directly atop the remains of Washington’s Philadelphia home.

Consisting of several informational panels and video presentations placed on walls indicating where Washington’s house stood, the exhibit told of the nine enslaved Africans held on the site by the first president: Austin, Paris, Hercules, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Moll, Joe and Ona Judge — the last of whom fled Washington’s enslavement in 1796 and evaded a subsequent manhunt, spending her final 51 years a free woman.

In March 2025, however, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to review national park displays the administration argues “inappropriately disparage” the United States.

The following quote is an excerpt from the concurring opinion of Judge McKee, joined by Judges Ambro and Roth, in the precedential decision Quinteros v. US Attorney General, Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit 2019. Read the full decision here.

I join my colleagues’ thoughtful opinion in its entirety. I write separately because I think it is as necessary as it is important to emphasize the manner in which the BIA dismissed Quinteros’ claim that he would be tortured (and perhaps killed) if sent back to El Salvador. For reasons I will explain below, it is difficult for me to read this record and conclude that the Board was acting as anything other than an agency focused on ensuring Quinteros’ removal rather than as the neutral and fair tribunal it is expected to be. That criticism is harsh and I do not make it lightly.

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Victory: Third Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Rights of Transgender Students

This afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that upheld a Pennsylvania school district’s policy that permits transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Court observers had the opportunity to witness a rare spectacle. Rather than take weeks or months to issue an opinion after arguments, the…