Recommendations of the Editorial team
A federal judge has ruled that the board of the Kennedy Center violated the lawas he posted President Donald Trump’s name on the concert hall. At the same time, he prohibited the institution from temporarily closing its doors for renovation work.
The law establishing the center “makes it crystal clear that the center is named after President Kennedy and cannot bear any other official name or public memorial simply because the board of directors unilaterally decided so,” wrote US federal judge Casey Cooper in his ruling. And further: “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name – and only Congress can change it.”
In his ruling, Cooper ordered those responsible to remove all signage at the Kennedy Center bearing Trump’s name within two weeks. Additionally, the website must be updated to remove all references to the name “Trump Kennedy Center” and to “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
White House is silent
White House and Kennedy Center officials did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s requests for comment.
Judge Cooper permanently enjoined the Center from “posting, installing, or maintaining any physical or digital signage on the building or grounds of the Kennedy Center that indicates, infers, or implies that the institution is named for any person other than President John F. Kennedy.”
Although the judge blocked the center’s temporary closure for renovation work, he allowed the renovation plans in principle – but only after the board considered its “full range of legal obligations.”
No basis for closure
“There is no evidence that the Board considered its full legal obligations when deciding that a complete closure of the Kennedy Center was appropriate,” he wrote in his ruling. “In short, there is no evidence before the court that the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center considered how it would carry out its full statutory mandate during the closure period.”
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Why does Campino think that sometimes it’s good to just keep your mouth shut? Why does he sometimes feel like a drinks delivery man? He provides the answer in our cover story about the Toten Hosen’s big farewell, exclusively in issue 06/26. And that’s not all: the magazine includes the world exclusive 7-inch single “Always just loved” – on which Sven Regener from Element of Crime also contributed. You can easily order the ROLLING STONE edition here.
