Object

Historic Barn and Bridges Preservation Act

Charlie's notes thrust forward in the bustling hallway unleash this state preservation law—a statutory blade slicing the first library site from contention. Bartlet eyes it amid exasperated dismissals of projections, its edict safeguarding historic barns and bridges, forcing staff to scramble for alternatives as frustration boils over institutional absurdities.

1 appearances

Purpose

State law prohibiting development of the first proposed library site to preserve historic barns and bridges.

Significance

Thrusts an immediate legal barrier into the library project, compelling a pivot to new sites and heightening Bartlet's weary clash with bureaucratic obstacles amid espionage shadows and legacy pressures.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S2E16 · Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail

Bartlet Grapples with His Own Law Blocking Library Site

Charlie quotes the Historic Barn and Bridges Preservation Act verbatim from notes, weaponizing its pre-1900 structure mandate as the site's fatal flaw; Bartlet savages then claims authorship, the law embodying his principled past clashing with present ambitions in humiliated retreat.

Before: Cited in Charlie's prepared notes

After: Reinvoked as binding constraint stalling library progress

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