Nonprofit Organizations Law Commons^™

Learning In Action: Cardozo Students Provide Legal Support To Central Valley Entrepreneurs, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Students from Cardozo Law's Entrepreneurship and Community Business Clinic traveled to California's Central Valley to provide legal education and support to local entrepreneurs. Through workshops, client counseling, and community outreach, students assisted rural businesses and nonprofits while gaining hands-on experience in transactional and community-based legal practice.

Bridging The Gap: Predictors Of Alignment Of Parent And Caseworker Perceptions Of Engagement, Jianchao Lai, Michelle I. Graef

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

This study examined predictors of alignment between parents’ and caseworkers’ perceptions of family engagement in child welfare services. Using data from 2,274 Alternative Response (AR)–eligible families randomized to AR or Traditional Response, engagement was assessed across the domains of Receptivity, Buy-in, Worker-family Relationship, and Mistrust using a modified Yatchmenoff (2005) scale. Multinomial logistic regression models identified factors associated with agreement and discrepancy between ratings of family engagement within the parent and worker dyad. While both parents and workers valued engagement, workers were more likely to provide higher overall engagement ratings, although the direction of discrepancy varied across specific subscales. Greater …

Plutocratic Public Safety, Erin R. Collins

Law Faculty Publications

Recent political events have laid bare the ways that the United States functions like a plutocracy, in which the ultra-wealthy exert influence over core governance functions. The criminal system is not immune from this influence. Big Capital shapes the operation of the criminal system in highly visible ways through its investments in policing technology, electronic monitoring systems, and correctional and detention systems. This Article shows how the economic elite shape the operation of the criminal system in a less obvious way: through philanthropic giving. Big Philanthropy provides another—albeit seemingly benevolent—avenue through which the ultra-wealthy can advance a vision of public …

Universities, Capital, And Democratic Vulnerability, Steven Dean, Dana Brakman Reiser

Faculty Scholarship

For many, the university serves as a crucial guardian of democracy. Still, the capitulation of leading American private universities to authoritarian pressure from the Trump Administration should not be terribly surprising. This Essay offers one reason why. It does so by focusing on the law governing private nonprofit universities. It examines both the origins and the impact of a fundamental tension between their charitable missions and their need for capital. It shows how the legal framework designed to protect these nonprofit universities from market pressures can actually intensify their vulnerability.

The so-called “nondistribution constraint” stands at the core of U.S. …

Corrected Amicus Brief Filed By Amici Curiae Law Professors In 25-11612 & 25-11821, William Snape, Delicianna Winders, Patrick Parenteau, Christopher Courchesne, Hope Babcock, Holly Doremus, Paul Boudreaux, Oliver A. Houck, Zygmunt J.B. Plater, Michelle Benedict Nowlin, Daniel Rohlf

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES: Whether the district court's injunction requiring FDEP to cease Endangered Species Act-violating conduct, obtain an incidental take permit before it continues with the conduct, and implement reasonable protective measures violates principles of cooperative federalism, the Tenth Amendment, or the anti-commandeering doctrine.

Law School News: Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Better Than He Found It 4-24-2025, Danna Lorch, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers: Julia Meskis '25 : 3l : Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers : Jeremey Love And Samantha Armstrong : Juris Doctorate : Defending Dreams In Challenging Times, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Champions For Justice: Celebrating Alumni Leaders In Legal Advocacy And Social Impact 03-31-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Charitable Giving And Civil Rights: A Defense Of Private Remedial Action, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

Private charitable organizations have long enjoyed the freedom to determine their mission and render appropriate charitable assistance, including by taking race, ethnicity, gender, and other traits into account when responding to the harmful effects of past discrimination, a practice this Feature terms “private remedial action.” The legality of this kind of trait-conscious assistance is strongly supported by the early American history of trait-based associations, federal tax law, and core values of free association. However, new legal and political attacks on affirmative action of all types have put charities on the defensive, leading many groups to change their programs and behavior …

Associational Rights Versus Nonprofit Transparency: Information Reporting In The Internet Age, Roger Colinvaux

Scholarly Articles

For decades, the nation’s charitable and nonprofit organizations have been required to file an information return, known as the Form 990, with the Internal Revenue Service. Congress mandates that the return be made publicly available. Such information reporting, both to the IRS and to the public, is the cornerstone of the federal government’s approach to assuring that nonprofit organizations are legally compliant. The Supreme Court’s decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (APF), however, casts a shadow on the constitutionality of nonprofit reporting requirements. In APF, the Court held unconstitutional California’s effort to require charities to …

On Entityness And Takeovers: Acquisition Valuation, Theory Of The Firm, And Coase's Error, Robert J. Rhee

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article advances a theory of entityness that theorizes the firm and its relationship to the acquisition premium. This theory is the first scholarly analysis to construct a general model of takeover valuation by integrating the modern finance theory of asset value and a corrected Coasean theory of the firm. The acquisition premium is an enigma. Acquirers must pay it. But why? Isn’t the market price tethered to fundamental value through an efficient market? This enigma reveals a key insight about firms. The theory of entityness postulates that the acquisition premium is compensation for a capitalized asset intrinsic in the …

Are Nonprofit Tax Exemptions And Deductions “Federal Financial Assistance”? Should They Be?, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

Two recent federal court decisions have reignited the debate over whether “Federal financial assistance” as used in four federal anti-discrimination statutes includes the tax benefits enjoyed by most nonprofit organizations. Both courts concluded that it does. While an appellate court reversed one decision, and the other case settled without appellate review, these holdings create significant uncertainty. And this uncertainty affects the more than 1.8 million tax-exempt nonprofits, many if not most of which do not receive federal financial assistance through other channels and so could safely conclude these statutes do not reach them, absent these decisions.

This Article first considers …

Exploring The Dynamics And Outcomes Of Family Engagement In Child Welfare Services: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Jianchao Lai, Michelle Graef, Todd Franke

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Background: Engaging families effectively in child welfare services remains a persistent challenge, shaped by complex interactions between agency practices and family circumstances. While existing research has explored this issue, it has predominantly relied on data from agency and caseworker perspectives, often overlooking the crucial viewpoint of the families. Objectives: This study investigates families’ subjective experiences and perceptions within the child welfare system, focusing on their satisfaction with child welfare workers and overall engagement. Methods: The study draws on data collected through an evaluation of the implementation of Alternative Response in a Midwestern state. Agency administrative data is integrated with additional …

Changemakers: Steven Colantuono: Juris Doctorate: Embracing The Road To Success, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Charity Law & Blockchain Technology: Using Old Wineskins For New Wine?, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

Whenever something new emerges, the question of how existing law applies arises. Sometimes it is both easy to answer that question and the answer is consistent with the policy goals of existing law. But sometimes the answer to that question is uncertain, does not fit well with those policy goals, or reflects a mixture of these two issues.

This question is particularly vexing today with respect to new assets facilitated by blockchain technology. These new assets include cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and ownership interests in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Commentators have written about how certain laws, particularly securities law, apply …

Building Resilience By Removing Barriers: Addressing Structural Impediments To Advocacy By Nonprofit Organizations On Behalf Of The Unenfranchised, Kirsten Widner, Heather Kolinsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

Charitable contributions, particularly from private foundations, are an essential source of support for many nonprofit charitable organizations. However, the ability to accept these contributions comes with significant restrictions on lobbying and advocacy. Using vulnerability theory and an original survey of nonprofit advocacy organizations, we show that current restrictions on 501(c)(3) organizations disproportionally limit advocacy on behalf of the most politically disadvantaged groups—those without the right to vote. This, in turn, reinforces existing inequalities in whose voices are heard and whose interests are considered by policymakers. This Article argues that reforming the laws that structure what organizations can take tax-deductible charitable …

Law School News: From The Community, For The Community 1/21/24, Suzi Morales, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Formalizing Compliance To Reduce Board Exposure To Civil And Criminal Liability, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Fraternities and sororities (Greek-letter organizations or “GLOs” as used herein) are nonprofit organizations that present uniquely complex issues when considering the GLO directors’ ability to oversee and manage the organizations’ potential exposure to criminal and civil liability. Legal analysis of the fiduciary obligations of nonprofit directors borrows from, and analogizes to, the law of directorial fiduciary duty in the for-profit context. There are, however, important structural differences between for-profit and nonprofit firms that require consideration when thinking about how GLO boards operate. The potentiality of criminal and civil liability for a GLO is uniquely driven by the misconduct of …

21st Century Churches And Federal Tax Law, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, Ellen P. Aprill

Journal Articles

Federal tax treatment matters to churches, the term the IRS uses for all types of religious congregations, including synagogues, mosques, and temples. The federal tax provisions most significant for churches and certain entities closely related to them, however, are not those that the public and commentators often assume. Exemption from income tax and the ability of donors to deduct contributions, the benefits that receive the most public attention, in fact provide surprisingly little benefit either to churches in the aggregate or to most individual churches. Their status as organizations taxexempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, moreover, imposes …

Nonprofit Corporations & Politics: The Entity/Coordination Tension, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

Federal tax law treats separate nonprofit corporations as distinct legal entities for almost all purposes, in common with most other areas of law. With respect to political activity, this means that one nonprofit corporation’s lobbying or election related actions are generally not attributed to another nonprofit corporation. This is the case even if the two entities have overlapping or even identical boards of directors. It is also the case even if the two entities collaborate regarding their respective activities and share employees, facilities, outside vendors, and other resources, as long as the entities reasonably allocate the costs for those shared …

Contextual Determinants Of Re-Reporting For Families Receiving Alternative Response: A Survival Analysis In A Midwestern State, Jianchao Lai, Michelle Graef, Todd Franke, Toby Burnham

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Differential response (DR) has been widely adopted in over 30 states to address shortcomings of the traditional approach to child maltreatment reports in complex family and case circumstances. However, despite continued evaluation efforts, evidence of the effectiveness of DR remains inconclusive. The current study aims to assess the impact of a DR program and potential predictors, including service match and number of family case workers, on maltreatment re-reports in a Midwestern state. The study utilized a randomized control trial and assigned eligible families to either the Alternative Response (AR) track or Traditional Response (TR) track. The enrollment was implemented in …

Louisville’S Cj Ryan To Join Indiana Law In January, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Adding to an already impressive list of new faculty, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law is pleased to announce CJ Ryan, of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, will join the Law School for the start of the spring 2024 semester.

In addition to his role on the Brandeis faculty, Ryan is an affiliated scholar at the American Bar Foundation.

The Commerciality Of Non-Profit Hospitals Requires Them To Be Taxed: Bringing The Debate To A Conclusion, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

It is now time to conclude our prolonged debate about the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals. The contemporary nonprofit hospital is a commercial enterprise, materially indistinguishable for tax purposes from its profit-making, taxed competitor. The federal income tax and the states’ income, sales and property taxes should treat all hospitals alike, regardless of whether such hospitals are nonprofit or for-profit enterprises. In the interests of equity and efficiency, these similar institutions should be taxed similarly.

As a political matter, nonprofit hospitals will continue to defend their tax-exempt status. Like any other lucrative, vested interest, nonprofit hospitals will continue to fight …

2023 Champions For Justice 1-27-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Nonprofits, Taxes, And Speech, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

Federal tax law is of two minds when it comes to speech by nonprofits. The tax benefits provided to nonprofits are justified in significant part because they provide nonprofits great discretion in choosing the specific ends and means to pursue, thereby promoting diversity and pluralism. But current law withholds some of these tax benefits if a nonprofit engages in certain types of political speech. Legislators have also repeatedly, if unsuccessfully, sought to expand these political speech restrictions in various ways. And some commentators have proposed denying tax benefits to groups engaged in other types of disfavored speech, including hate speech …

Race Conscious Affirmative Action By Tax Exempt 501(C)(3) Institutions After Students For Fair Admissions V. Harvard And Unc, David A. Brennen

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1983, several years after its 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court decided a case that significantly impacted tax-exempt § 501(c)(3) charitable schools that consider race in making admissions decisions. In Bob Jones University v. United States, the Court held that a private school that discriminates against African Americans in admissions is not entitled to § 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The Court based its decision on the public policy doctrine, an off-shoot of the well established illegality doctrine. Pursuant to the public policy doctrine, the Court upheld the IRS’s decision to deny …

Statutory Foundations: Let’S Discuss The Fuss, The Nonplus, And The Superfluous, Thomas Simmons

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Non-Governmental Organizations (Ngos) In Improving Human Rights In Iraq, Naser A. Yahya

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Iraq has had a long history of human rights violations since its inception as a modern state in 1921. This is true especially under the personalistic dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Under his regime, the Iraqi people suffered a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including political imprisonment, torture, and summary and arbitrary executions. This regime used a variety of mechanisms to squelch political dissent, including house-to-house searches; arbitrary arrests, often in large numbers; surveillance; harassment and questioning of family members; detention of targeted individuals, such as those returning to Iraq pursuant to amnesties, at unknown locations; …