The Supreme Court of California has reversed lower courts and held that a release of liability signed by a rider in a charity bike ride is ineffective against a city that did not adequately maintain the public road on which the rider was injured.  The Court said the release was void as against public policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court, as expected, has reversed a decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held that the Catholic Charities Bureau and four affiliates in Superior WI qualify for the religious exemption to the state unemployment compensation law.  In a unanimous decision, the Court had held that the state court’s interpretation of the rule does not survive strict scrutiny under the First Amendment.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has clarified its standard for determining whether a charity should lose its state charitable tax exemption for violating its requirement to operate “entirely free” from private profit motive.  It has held that an executive compensation bonus based in part on the economic results of a hospital is permissible where the total compensation is reasonable and is within the fair market value when compared to similar executives in similar institutions.

The federal District Court for the District of Columbia (Reggie B. Walton) has granted summary judgment to two ousted directors of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and ordered their reinstatement to their positions.

The federal District Court in the District of Columbia (Paul L. Friedman) has granted a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Education to stop the termination of a grant to the Southern Education Foundation.  SEF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 1867 to help educate formerly enslaved persons after the Civil War and advocating against the then-lawful segregation in public education.  It has worked to train teachers, provide educational materials, and build schools for formerly enslaved persons and poor whites in the Southern states.

The federal District Court in Massachusetts (Allison D. Burroughs) has granted a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Energy “Policy Flash” which attempts to set a universal cap on indirect overhead funding costs for Institutes of Higher Education on research projects.  The Association of American Universities, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, American Council on Education and several public and private universities had sued to stop the policy change from taking effect.

The federal District Court for the District of Columbia (Beryl A. Howell) has ruled that the Trump Administration’s attempt to take over and terminate the activities of the United States Institute of Peace, a separate nonprofit corporation, is void.

USIP was created by Congress in 1984 with bipartisan support to advance the pursuit of peace throughout the world and to promote peaceful conflict resolution without directly involving the U.S. government in foreign disputes.

A federal District Court in the District of Columbia (Christopher R. Cooper) has granted a preliminary injunction against the Department of Justice in favor of the American Bar Association on the ABA’s claim that contracts were terminated in retaliation for the ABA’s participation in lawsuits and free speech criticizing the Administration for undermining the judiciary and legal profession.