An appellate court in Arkansas has refused to grant charitable immunity to a nonprofit nursing home accused of abusing the charitable form to avoid liability for the death of a resident.  The Court has affirmed a trial court decision holding that material issues of fact prevent the grant of a summary judgment.

A Muslim religious organization has been allowed to proceed with a Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act claim against a suburban Philadelphia township after the township denied a variance to build a mosque within the municipality.  A federal District Court in Philadelphia has said the complaint filed by the U.S.

The board of directors of a private nonprofit college in Oklahoma is not a “suable entity” and a discrimination case brought by a former college employee against the institution and its board of directors must be dismissed as against the board itself, a federal District Court in Oklahoma has held.

Counselor/parents at a nonprofit residential treatment facility for delinquent and dependent boys may pursue overtime pay and retaliation claims under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal District Court in Pennsylvania has held.  It has refused to grant motions for summary judgment in favor of the defendant employers.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that flamboyant and controversial Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage had qualified immunity when he threatened a nonprofit charter school with losing a $1 million grant if it hired a political opponent as its new president.  A divided panel of the Court has affirmed a trial court decision dismissing a claim by the Democratic Speaker of the House who claimed the action violated his Constitutional rights under Section 1983.

The Minnesota Tax Court has denied a full fair market value charitable contribution deduction for the gift of a digitized collection of family vital records to the Luxembourg America Cultural Society in Wisconsin.  The Court has agreed with the state Commissioner of Revenue that the collection was ordinary income property and not capital gain property.

A church property for which real estate exemption was not requested for three years following its acquisition is subject judicial sale for failure to pay real estate taxes, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has held. It has refused the church’s petition to stop the sale of its property for failure to pay more than $31,000 in taxes.

The Oregon Tax Court has held that an environmental institute promoting environmental sustainability and providing discounted discussion programs is eligible for real estate tax exemption in the state.

The Northwest Earth Institute promotes an annual EcoChallenge in which individuals sign up on the website and choose activities to promote conservation and health.  It also provides discussion groups which use materials distributed at less than cost and paid for by donations.