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Nonprofit Organizations Law

University of Washington School of Law

Journal

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Unregulated Charity, Eric Franklin Amarante Dec 2019

Unregulated Charity, Eric Franklin Amarante

Washington Law Review

The vast majority of charities in the United States operate in a regulatory blind spot: they are neither meaningfully evaluated when they apply for charitable status nor substantively monitored after they receive charitable status. Driven by severe budget constraints, the IRS decided to essentially ignore any charity that claims it will realize less than $50,000 in annual gross receipts. From a practical perspective, the IRS’s decision makes sense. To the extent smaller charities are less likely to cause harm, it is reasonable (perhaps even preferable) to subject them to less scrutiny. This type of prioritization, known as risk-based regulation, has …


The Promises And Perils Of Using Big Data To Regulate Nonprofits, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer Oct 2019

The Promises And Perils Of Using Big Data To Regulate Nonprofits, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Washington Law Review

For the optimist, government use of “Big Data” involves the careful collection of information from numerous sources. The government then engages in expert analysis of those data to reveal previously undiscovered patterns. Discovering patterns revolutionizes the regulation of criminal behavior, education, health care, and many other areas. For the pessimist, government use of Big Data involves the haphazard seizure of information to generate massive databases. Those databases render privacy an illusion and result in arbitrary and discriminatory computer-generated decisions. The reality is, of course, more complicated. On one hand, government use of Big Data may lead to greater efficiency, effectiveness, …


Modernizing Charity Law In China, Rebecca Lee Apr 2009

Modernizing Charity Law In China, Rebecca Lee

Washington International Law Journal

In recent years, the cultivation of domestic charities has been an important item on the development agenda of the Chinese government. In pursuit of this end, China has attempted to modernize its laws governing charitable organizations. Despite these welcome attempts and a rich tradition of philanthropy, China’s existing legal framework still fails to support an effective charitable sector. The government, noting the crucial role of the charitable sector, has begun drafting a comprehensive statute that will govern charities. In light of these emergent trends, this paper critically examines the inadequacies of the existing legal structure, highlighting the need to devise …


Creating A System For Citizen Participation: How The Nonprofit Sector Can Provide Citizens A Voice In Tokyo's Urban Development System, Nicolas J. Vikstrom Feb 2006

Creating A System For Citizen Participation: How The Nonprofit Sector Can Provide Citizens A Voice In Tokyo's Urban Development System, Nicolas J. Vikstrom

Washington International Law Journal

Recent changes in Japan’s civil society together with the current political and economic environment have created the first opportunity to develop a viable nonprofit sector that represents citizen interests and allows for public participation in Tokyo’s urban development scheme. Tokyo’s urban environment has failed to meet the social and cultural needs of its citizens due to unprecedented economic and industrial growth from the beginning of the Meiji era until the 1990s. Through this extended period of growth, the goal for urban development was solely to increase Tokyo’s economic strength, while social needs were not addressed. While the City Planning Law …


The Charitable Status Of Nonprofit Hospitals: Toward A Donative Theory Of Tax Exemption, Mark A. Hall, John D. Colombo Apr 1991

The Charitable Status Of Nonprofit Hospitals: Toward A Donative Theory Of Tax Exemption, Mark A. Hall, John D. Colombo

Washington Law Review

This Article examines the growing controversy over the multi-billion dollar charitable tax exemption enjoyed by nonprofit hospitals. It begins by articulating four criteria for evaluating a rationale of the charitable exemption: deservedness, incorporating the elements of worth and need; proportionality; universality; and historical consistency. The Article then employs these criteria to refute three conventional explanations of why nonprofit hospitals are exempt: because health care is a per se charitable activity; because the treatment of indigent patients relieves a government burden; and because nonprofit hospitals provide community benefits. The Article also uses these criteria to refute two academic theories: Boris Bittker's …


Cooperative Corporation Law On The Marketing Transaction, A. Ladru Jensen Feb 1947

Cooperative Corporation Law On The Marketing Transaction, A. Ladru Jensen

Washington Law Review

In our generation American agricultural leaders have pioneered a new system of marketing. They have developed and expanded a new type of business unit: an association of producers acting by and through a non-profit corporation agent which they create and control. In our day the lawyers, admmistrators, judges and legislators are engaged in clarifying the legal concepts involved in the personal, corporate and propity relations which a pioneering generation of agricultural cooperators have created by their new commercial practice called cooperative marketing.


Tort Liability Of Charitable Corporations, Nona B. Fumerton Nov 1941

Tort Liability Of Charitable Corporations, Nona B. Fumerton

Washington Law Review

The protective and friendly attitude with which the courts and legislatures have viewed charities is reflected in the rule of nonliability for torts committed by such eleemosynary institutions. The rationales for this exemption may be briefly classified into five main groups. The first and most all inclusive, is the trust fund doctrine based on an early English case and exemplified by the Massachusetts decisions. Under this theory a charitable institution can not be held liable for the negligence of servants and employees or administrative officials.Nor is the court concerned with the status of the plaintiff as beneficiary, employee or stranger. …