Lead Stories

Two children of the founders of a family private foundation don’t seem to see eye-to-eye on the operation of the foundation they now lead following the death of their parents.  The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recently affirmed a District Court decision denying relief to the son who sought to overturn actions taken by his sister.  (See Nonprofit Issues, 1/16.) 

A federal District Court in Missouri, agreeing with several District Courts in other states, but acting without any Court of Appeals authority, had held that the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act do not apply to a Catholic hospital, but that the hospital can be sued for retaliation under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

A divided Supreme Court in Maine has denied standing to an owner of real estate burdened by a conservation easement seeking to enforce the terms of the easement against an adjacent landowner to whom the owner sold the property burdened by the same easement.  In a 5-2 decision, the Court has affirmed a trial court decision denying standing on the ground that it is not authorized under the state’s law modeled on the Uniform Conservation Easement Act.

A federal District Court in Minnesota has affirmed a Bankruptcy Court decision refusing to join more than 180 separate Catholic affiliates in the bankruptcy proceeding of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  The Court has ruled that the action would violate the Bankruptcy Code’s prohibition against involuntary bankruptcies against a corporation that is not “a moneyed, business or commercial corporation.”

An appellate court in California has reversed a trial court decision denying recovery of goodwill lost by a performing arts nonprofit following condemnation of its building for a highway project.  The Court has said that once a loss of goodwill has been shown, its quantification may be measured by a variety of methods.

A second charity dealing with controversial issues has won a permanent injunction against enforcement of California’s demand that an unredacted Schedule B has to be filed with the state in order to register for charitable solicitation in the state.  The Thomas More Law Center has won the injunction against Secretary of State Kamala Harris on the ground that enforcement of the demand for the list of major contributors would violate the center’s Constitutional rights.