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Is Charitable Remedial Discrimination Okay?

Law Professor argues charities can take positive race conscious steps to fix the harmful effects of racial discrimination, despite Fearless Fund case

Roger Colinvaux, a law professor at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University and a widely recognized expert in the law of charities, has argued in an upcoming law review article that private charities generally have the right to engage in “remedial discrimination.”

He argues that the Fearless Fund case decided by a divided panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which holds that a venture capital fund may not run an award contest open only to black women entrepreneurs (See Nonprofit Issues®, Vol. XXXIV, No. 3), was wrongly decided.  It would “upend decades of precedent in charity law, place at risk millions of dollars of charitable funds set aside for the benefit of racial groups, including at religious charities, and undermine the principle of philanthropic freedom,” he says.

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IL Court requires funding for women in trades

Following up on an earlier temporary restraining order, a federal District Court in Illinois (Matthew F. Kennelly) has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the Department of Labor from cutting off funds for training women in the building trades.  The Court has ruled that the Department must fund Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit dedicated “to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the skilled trades industry,” which receives approximately 40% of its annual budget from federal funding.

WA Court grants TRO on termination of student visa

A federal District Court in Washington (David G. Estudillo) has granted a temporary restraining order to force the Department of Homeland Security to restore the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System status of a Chinese national who lawfully entered the United States. The Court also issued an order to prevent removal proceedings.

LOI does not make enforceable pledge

A letter of intent does not create a binding pledge for a charitable contribution, according to an appeals court in Virginia.  The Court has affirmed a trial court decision granting a declaratory judgment confirming that the potential donor has no obligation to fulfill its intention to give.

RI Court stops freeze of Biden act payments

The federal District Court in Rhode Island (Mary S. McElroy) has granted a motion by several nonprofits, including the National Council of Nonprofits, for a nation-wide preliminary injunction to stop five federal departments from freezing funds authorized under the Biden era Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and ordered them to take “immediate steps to resume processing, disbursement, and payment of already-awarded funding.”

ME Court stops freeze of school funds

The federal District Court of Maine (John A. Woodcock, Jr.) has stopped the Department of Agriculture from cutting off federal funds for schools in Maine based on alleged violation of Title IX without following the due process required by the Administrative Procedures Act.

DC Court denies injunction for immigrant registrations

The federal District court for the District of Columbia (Trevor N. McFadden) has denied a motion for preliminary injunction brought by a group of advocacy organizations serving immigrant communities seeking to stop enforcement of new statutory registration requirements.  The Court denied the motion because the plaintiff groups failed to show that they have a substantial likelihood of standing.  (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights v. U.S.

Auction house not “qualified appraiser”

The Tax Court has ruled that an appraisal of early Chinese art is not a “qualified appraisal” by a “qualified appraisal” for purposes of claiming a charitable contribution deduction, but that it will not penalize the donor because the donor had “reasonable cause” to believe that he had complied with the law.  The donor had previously settled a deduction claim with the Internal Revenue System when the claim was based on an appraisal by the same appraiser.

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