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Donor Disclosure Laws and the Courts: Challengers Win in New York and New Jersey

October 23, 2019

Encouraging news: Two separate courts recently struck down New Jersey and New York laws requiring mandatory disclosures of donors to nonprofit organizations, affirming First Amendment rights over purported government interests in donor information. These decisions build on both the Trump Administration’s efforts to curtail Section 501(c)(4) donor disclosure requirements and Americans for Prosperity’s ongoing challenge to California’s donor disclosure law applicable to Section 501(c)(3) public charities.

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Fundraising/Tax Exemption

NONPROFIT LAW NEWSFEED

Did St. Luke’s administrator’s pre-election email cautioning staff about Democratic judges violate IRS code?

11/18/2019

The Morning Call  The day before Election Day, an email was sent to staff from the account of a senior administrator at St. Luke’s University Health Network, saying Democratic candidates for Superior Court are bankrolled by lawyers who sue hospitals, doctors and other medical providers.

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Bakery rising from HDL-spawned nonprofit

10/24/2019

Richmond BizSense  Spawned from the wreckage of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a nonprofit helping students with developmental disabilities is firing up a new bakery in Westover Hills.

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Judge rules Michigan adoption agencies can bar LGBTQ couples

10/10/2019

CBS News  A judge in Michigan has ruled that religious-based adoption agencies that contract with the state can refuse to place children in LGBTQ homes. State Attorney General Dana Nessel reached a settlement earlier this year barring faith-based agencies from excluding same-sex couples from adoption services, but on Thursday a federal judge in Grand Rapids shot that down.

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SCOTUS will review Louisiana abortion law, setting up blockbuster election year showdown

10/04/2019

Politico  The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will review Louisiana abortion restrictions that could leave the state with just one abortion provider, in a case that gives the high court's new conservative majority a chance to redefine abortion rights.

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Judge says UI wrongly targeted student groups with religion-based standards

10/01/2019

Iowa City Press-Citizen  A second University of Iowa student group that promotes Christian beliefs has won a court ruling saying that UI acted unlawfully in deciding its standards for leaders' religious beliefs violated school policy.

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House Dems want to strip tax-exempt status from pro-family groups who oppose homosexuality

09/23/2019

LifeSiteNews  House Democrats are calling for 60 alleged “hate” groups, that include mostly socially conservative and some religious-based groups, to be stripped of their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for opposing, among other things, homosexuality, and LGBT ideology in general.

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Jury finds Aurora teacher guilty of failing to report suspected child abuse

09/12/2019

Kane County Chronicle  An East Aurora School District 131 teacher was found guilty for failing to report suspected child abuse to authorities as required by law, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.

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ACLU Sues to Block New Jersey Donor Disclosure Law

09/12/2019

Courthouse News Service  The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey sued state election officials Tuesday, asking a federal judge to declare that a donor disclosure law aimed at social welfare groups violates rights to free speech and association.

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Appeals court reinstates Minnesota filmmakers' bid to refuse same-sex couples

09/03/2019

Duluth News Tribune  A federal court on Friday, Aug. 23, reinstated a St.

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Judge sides with Mayo Clinic in IRS lawsuit over $11.5M

08/15/2019

Grand Forks Herald  An almost three-year legal battle with the IRS over whether Mayo Clinic can be classified as a school has ended with a judge ruling that the question at the heart of the case exceeds the government's bounds of authority and is "unlawful."

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Did St. Luke’s administrator’s pre-election email cautioning staff about Democratic judges violate IRS code?

11/18/2019

The Morning Call  The day before Election Day, an email was sent to staff from the account of a senior administrator at St. Luke’s University Health Network, saying Democratic candidates for Superior Court are bankrolled by lawyers who sue hospitals, doctors and other medical providers.

READ MORE

Bakery rising from HDL-spawned nonprofit

10/24/2019

Richmond BizSense  Spawned from the wreckage of Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a nonprofit helping students with developmental disabilities is firing up a new bakery in Westover Hills.

READ MORE