Maryjo Cohen v. Minneapolis Jewish Federation, No. 18-3450 (7th Cir. 2019)
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NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued September 12, 2019 Decided September 13, 2019 Before JOEL M. FLAUM, Circuit Judge FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge No. 18-3450 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. MARYJO COHEN, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. No. 16-cv-325-jdp James D. Peterson, Chief Judge. MINNEAPOLIS JEWISH FEDERATION, Defendant-Appellee. Order The district court concluded that the Melvin S. Cohen Trust, as a “supporting organization” (26 U.S.C. §509(a)(3)) of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, could direct how the Federation used the money distributed from the Trust only to the extent that the Federation deemed the expenditures to fit “a particular function, activity, or grant program of the Federation”. 286 F. Supp. 3d 949 (W.D. Wis. 2017). After a bench trial, the court provided a number of remedies, including permitting the Federation to use its own best judgment about the Trust’s recent distributions, replacing one trustee, and appointing an institutional trustee (whose expenses will be borne by the Federation, which supported this remedy). 346 F. Supp. 3d 1274 (W.D. Wis. 2018). We do not think No. 18-3450 Page 2 it necessary to add to the district court’s explanations of these decisions, all of which are either compelled by law (including the law of contracts and the Internal Revenue Code) or within the scope of remedial discretion allowed to a court by Wisconsin’s law of trusts. AFFIRMED
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