Nine Kennedy Family Members Sue to Block Trump's Proposed 250-Foot Arch
Nine members of the Kennedy family have sued to stop construction of a 250-foot triumphal arch that President Trump has proposed. A triumphal arch is a large freestanding gateway, the kind of monument built to honor a victory or a leader. The family's complaint was filed with U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a federal trial judge.
All nine plaintiffs are children or grandchildren of Senator Robert F. Kennedy or Senator Edward M. Kennedy. They are Rory Kennedy, Maxwell Kennedy, Christopher G. Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Courtney Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II, Joseph P. Kennedy III, and Edward M. Kennedy Jr. They are represented by lawyers Norman Eisen and Steve Jonas of the Democracy Defenders Fund.
The core of the complaint is about a view. President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the military burial ground across the Potomac River from Washington. He lies beside his wife, Jacqueline, and their infant children, Arabella and Patrick. His grave is marked by an eternal flame, a flame kept burning as a memorial.
The plaintiffs say the arch would cast a shadow over the family's gravesites. Town & Country reported that they also contend blocked sight lines would destroy an essential part of the gravesite's design. The complaint says the family was assured during early site design that the flame would stay visible from Memorial Bridge, the span that carries traffic between Arlington and the Lincoln Memorial side of the river.
The lawyers also argue that a monument of this kind needs congressional approval. Congress is the U.S. legislature, and under this argument it would have to sign off before the arch could go up. The complaint's legal claims rest on that point.
For many Americans, the eternal flame is one of the most familiar images tied to the Kennedy years. Arlington draws visitors year-round, and the grave is a place many people visit without any connection to the family at all. The lawsuit puts that quiet spot at the center of a fight over a large new structure in the nation's capital.
The complaint is now before Judge Chutkan. It asks the court to stop the project, and it is the only formal legal step the plaintiffs have described so far.
