Abstract When corporations misbehave, the normal government response is to saddle the industry with more federal oversight requirements. But reactive policies fail to curb corporate misconduct and can incentivize corporations to ignore or break the law due to the ever-increasing cost of compliance. Even though shareholders have to foot the bill when the corporations get caught ignoring or...
Money as an Instrument for Justice
Abstract According to the conventional wisdom, money is a scarce private commodity that needs to be rationed. Both households and businesses need enough income to cover their obligations, such as food, rent, payroll, and principal and interest payments on debt. Insufficient income can mean bankruptcy, insolvency, and, for an individual or family, homelessness. Monetary scarcity has pernicious...
Election Obstruction
Abstract In 2020 and 2022, multiple Republican county canvassers refused to perform their ministerial duty to approve election returns, obstructing the official certification of the results. The canvassers latched onto false claims of fraud and other conspiracies advanced by election deniers. They eventually relented because of court orders and public pressure. The elections produced official...
Preface to the UCLA Symposium on the Restatement of the Law, Charitable Nonprofit Organizations
I am delighted to introduce this Symposium issue. It celebrates the 2021 publication of the first Restatement of the Law, Charitable Nonprofit Organizations. Five prominent scholars of nonprofit law first presented these Essays at the Symposium Conference on the Restatement of the Law, Charitable Nonprofit at UCLA on September 30 and October 1, 2022. The Conference was co-sponsored by the UCLA...
When Donor Meets Purpose
Abstract This Essay addresses a gap in law and the Restatement of the Law Charitable Nonprofit Organizations regarding the relationship between a charitable nonprofit’s donors and its purpose. I argue that charitable nonprofits can align their purposes with the personal or professional identities of their donors, and it may be in the best interest of some charities to do so. Charities whose...
The Restatement of Charitable Nonprofits and the Changing Nature of the Modern Investment Committee
Abstract Garry W. Jenkins is president and professor of politics at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Previously, he was dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Thank you to Professor Jon J. Lee (University of Oklahoma School of Law), Professor Jill Horwitz (UCLA School of Law), Scott Dewey (University of Minnesota Law School Law Library), and the...
Use of Restricted Assets During a Crisis: Is It Time to Raid the Endowment?
Abstract
This Essay summarizes parts of the argument found in Jill R. Horwitz, “The Endowment Is Not For You: Endowment Restrictions And Crises” (unpublished manuscript on file with author).
Laws Governing Restrictions on Charitable Gifts: The Consequences of Codification
Abstract Over the last two decades we have seen marked changes in the laws governing donor-imposed restrictions on charitable gifts. These changes have occurred primarily as a result of the adoption in many states of the Uniform Trust Code (the UTC) and the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA). This Essay explains that codification in the UTC and UPMIFA of liberalized...