Donald B. Tobin
Associate Dean for Faculty; Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law; Senior Fellow, Election Law @ Moritz
Phone: (614) 688-3539
Email: tobin.46@osu.edu
Office: Drinko 216
Education
B.A., Duke University, Economics, 1989
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1996 (magna cum laude)
Donald Tobin is an expert on the intersection of tax and campaign finance laws. He served on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. Department of Justice before arriving at the Moritz College of Law in 2001.
Donald Tobin is an expert on the intersection of tax and campaign finance laws. He served on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. Department of Justice before arriving at the Moritz College of Law in 2001.
His two articles on the relationship of tax and campaign finance laws concerning the regulation of political groups having tax-exempt status under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, his work on charities and their involvement in political campaigns, as well as his co-authored work with EL@M Director Edward B. Foley, have been widely recognized as leading publications on this topic. His most recent work includes "Political Campaigning by Churches and Charities: Hazardous for 501(C)(3)s, Dangerous for Democracy" (95 Geo. L.J. 1313) and "Political Advocacy and Taxable Entities: Are They the Next "Loophole"?" (6 First Amend. L. Rev. 41).
At the invitation of the Federal Election Commission, Professor Tobin (together with Professor Foley) testified before the Commission on the future regulation of these "527 groups" in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC.
