A nonprofit library in Maine has been unable to obtain a federal court injunction against a Town seeking to sell its real estate for alleged failure to pay real estate taxes, a federal District Court in Maine has ruled. It denied the injunction on the basis of the federal Anti-Injunction Act that prohibits federal courts from enjoining “the collection of state taxes.”
The Pennsylvania Legislature, with little publicity or fanfare, has passed two significant changes in the law governing endowments and other restricted funds.
The U.S. Supreme Court has extended the scope of the “ministerial exception” that prohibits courts from hearing claims of employment discrimination brought by teachers at religious schools. It has reversed and remanded two separate cases from the 9th Circuit, in which the Court of Appeals had reversed trial court summary judgments in favor of the schools and held that the teachers did not meet the criteria for being a “minister” previously established by the Court.
Despite the fact that the Small Business Administration promulgated an interim rule stating that a small business or nonprofit that had filed for bankruptcy protection could not obtain a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act, a Bankruptcy Court in Florida has enjoined the SBA from using the rule to prevent a small business in bankruptcy from obtaining the loan. The Court said that the Administrator had exceeded her authority in promulgating the rule.
A conservation easement over land including a private golf course qualifies for a charitable contribution, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has held. It has reversed and vacated a Tax Court decision denying the deduction.
An easement qualifies for a deduction, the Court said, if it was made for “the protection of a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar ecosystem,” or was made for “the preservation of open space ... for the scenic enjoyment of the general public.”
A state’s chief deputy Attorney General supervising the work of charities was properly allowed to testify as an expert witness in a criminal prosecution of a charity CEO accused of fraudulent misuse of organizational funds, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has held. It has affirmed the federal District Court’s opinion that the Attorney General’s testimony was limited to background topics, was relevant, and not unfairly prejudicial.
