Protecting Nonprofit Rights

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

Senators Want to Overturn Buckley

Oct 25, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

On October 18, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced SJR 21, a proposed Constitutional amendment that would overturn the 1976 Supreme Court opinion in Buckley v. Valeo. The proposed amendment states, "Congress shall have power to regulate the raising and spending of money, including through setting limits, for campaigns for nomination for election to, or for election to, Federal office."

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Fallout Continues from the Holy Land Foundation Case

Oct 24, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

With headlines mostly describing the confusion that befell the court room on Monday and a seeming defeat for the government, there are now many opportunities. For example, will more notice our concerns with the designation process of groups as terrorist organizations, and will more now pay attention to the problems with shutting down a charity before any criminal charges are brought and freezing all of its assets all with secret evidence? An opinion piece in the Washington Post by David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, identifies these concerns.

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Will The Colbert Report Violate Campaign Finance Law?

Oct 24, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Don't miss this hilarious video clip of Stephen Colbert doing a spoof of the Federal Election Campaign Act's (FECA) application to his campaign for presidency. He has signed papers to get on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in South Carolina. Now many are asking whether Colbert risks violating election law with the show promoting the campaign. What would happen to the show as the election nears? Faced with a similar situation earlier this year, NBC decided to stop airing Law & Order reruns featuring Fred Thompson.

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No Conviction, Mistrial for Holy Land Foundation

On Oct. 22, a federal jury in Texas deadlocked on all charges against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and most of the charges against five of its leaders. All were accused of supporting terrorism. The former board chair and endowment director, Mohammed el-Mezain, was acquitted of 31 of 32 charges against him, with the jury deadlocking on the remaining charge. The government has indicated that it will retry the case.

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Whistleblower Case Reveals Possible Political Campaign Intervention

Three former Oral Roberts University (ORU) professors filed a lawsuit on Oct. 2 in Tulsa, OK, against the university, alleging they were wrongfully fired after they reported the private school's involvement in a local political race. They claim that ORU President Richard Roberts directed former government professor Tim Brooker to use his students and resources to support the 2005 mayoral campaign of Tulsa County Commissioner Randi Miller. This use of university resources would violate the institution's tax-exempt status.

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Nonprofits Briefed on Myths and Facts of the Financial War on Terror

Nonprofits concerned with the impact of counterterrorism programs on charities were briefed on the larger context of the "financial war on terror" by Professor Ibrahim Warde, author of the new book The Price of Fear, at an Oct. 19 luncheon in Washington, DC. Warde argued that the series of financial crackdowns initiated by the U.S. government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have had virtually no impact on terrorism because they are based on a fundamental misconception of how terrorism works.

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Judge Declares Mistrial in Holy Land Foundation Case

Oct 22, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The biggest terror finance trial in U.S. history was declared a mistrial. The federal case against the Holy Land Foundation, once one of the largest Muslim charities in the U.S., ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to come to a unanimous decision on the 197 counts brought against the charity and five of its formers officers and supporters. There was a unanimous verdict only on one defendant, Mohammad El-Mezain, Holy Land's original chairman and endowments director who was acquitted on all but one count.

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News From the IRS For 501(c)(3)s

Oct 19, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released this new pamphlet, Compliance Guide for 501(c)(3) Public Charities. The packet includes information on activities that may risk a group's exempt status, information on recordkeeping, changes to be reported to the IRS, required public disclosures, and more resources for charities. And also see this brochure for charities.

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No Surprise: Senate Intelligence Committee Passes FISA Bill

Oct 19, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

With a vote of 13-2, the Senate Intelligence Committee passed the bill to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The measure does have retroactive legal immunity for telephone carriers and would not require the FISA court to issue a warrant for surveillance of a foreign suspect who might have communications with a U.S. resident, but the administration would have to submit its surveillance and minimization procedures to the court for approval. The bill would also sunset after six years.

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FEC To Issue Rule Within Weeks?

Oct 19, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) "hopes to approve 'within the next couple of weeks' a final regulation governing corporate and union funding of political advertising in line with the Supreme Court's decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. (WRTL)." It has not been decided if the regulation would be considered at an FEC open meeting or circulated in writing for commissioners to approve. Unfortunately, given the early primary season approaching, this time constraint should not produce a regulation considered hastily.

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