• Charitable immunity is governed by the charitable immunity laws, charities are not liable under tort law. In previous years, the doctrine of charitable immunity provided a greater degree of legal protection for churches and religious institutions, but as of this writing in 2020, most states have eliminated (or severely limited) the protection of charitable immunity in their jurisdiction. Where they still exist to a large extent, state charitable immunity laws may provide some degree of protection for volunteers and possibly others associated with the religious institution, but probably not for the religious institution itself.