[Foundation-l] The fallacy of power

[Anthony]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 7:32 PM, Delirium <delirium at hackish.org> wrote:
> Mike Godwin wrote:
>
> > Samuel writes:
>  >
>  >> Trusting someone to give good topical advice and trusting them to
>  >> make good
>  >> long-term decisions and remain true to their principles are rather
>  >> different.
>  >>
>  >
>  > Well, sure, but that's why the law imposes fiduciary responsibilities
>  > on the Board of Trustees (even the appointed ones). The checks and
>  > balances you are concerned about are built into the law itself.
>  >
>
>  Not very effective ones, though. Firstly, an uncompensated officer of a
>  nonprofit organization acting in good faith is extremely difficult to
>  sue, due to explicitly granted immunities in various federal and state
>  laws.

I believe the corporation has to elect to grant these immunities.
However, the WMF has.  WMF Bylaws Article VIII: "The Foundation shall
indemnify any Trustee or officer or any former Trustee or officer to
the full extent permitted by law."