Lead Stories

A federal District Court in Utah has permitted an association of professional fundraising counsel and an individual fundraising counsel firm to proceed with a constitutional challenge to the Utah charitable solicitation registration statute. The law requires fundraising counsel to register in the state even when they have no contact with the state other than a client that solicits there.  The Court has denied the state’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

We regularly feature answers to questions from readers in our “To the Point” column. The full list can be viewed here. Here are a few questions recently received from readers.

Can inactive members sue to recoup funds?

A trial court in Connecticut has refused to grant summary judgment to the volunteer president of a Jewish synagogue who was sued by an employee for allegedly failing to adequately supervise the executive director who fired her improperly.  The Court has ruled that the federal Volunteer Protection Act protects a volunteer from suit for mere negligence, but not a flagrant indifference to the rights of the injured, and that the president failed to eliminate a question of fact on the issue.  (Maisano v. Congregation Or Shalom, Superior Ct., CT, New Haven, No. CV074027175S, 11/19/09.)

An appellate court in Pennsylvania has refused to grant the City of Philadelphia the right to lease 19 acres of a public park that had been willed to the City as parkland “forever” to the adjacent Fox Chance Cancer Center.  The Court said that the City had not shown that the park use was no longer “practicable or possible and has ceased to serve the public interest.”  (Estate of Ryerss, Pa. Commonwealth Ct., No. 2446 C.D. 2008, 12/16/09.)

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a citizen’s federal court complaint seeking to force the Attorney General of New York to take action against a charitable foundation under New York law.  (Carvel v. Cuomo, No. 08-3703, 12/21/09.)

We regularly feature answers to questions from readers in our “To the Point” column. The full list can be viewed here. Here are a few questions recently received from readers.

May unrecognized church accept donations?

May an incorporated church, which does not have 501(c)(3) status, receive tithes and offerings from its members?   --From the Website.