Louisiana Monks Can Keep Making Caskets

[Beau_Ouiville]

Well, this legal ruling makes sense:

"NEW ORLEANS (CN) - An order of monks can sell handmade caskets without a Louisiana funeral home license, a federal judge ruled. The monks of St. Joseph, a Catholic monastery of 38 monks located in Covington, La., filed a declaratory-relief complaint in August, saying they do need Louisiana State funeral board licensing to continue producing the wooden caskets they have made and sold for generations. The caskets range in price from $1,500 to $2,000.

Enforcement of funeral-director licensing might be relevant to the monks if it pertained to public health and safety, U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. found. But said “no evidence was presented to demonstrate that requiring the purchase of caskets from licensed funeral directors aids the public welfare,” he added. If someone wants to bury a body, they will buy a casket and then hire a funeral director.

“There is no rational basis for the state of Louisiana to require persons who seek to enter into the retailing of caskets to undergo the training and expense necessary to comply with” rules required of funeral directors," Duval wrote."

courthousenews.com/2011/07/28/38547.htm

 

[Aelred_Minor]

A victory for the Church and for common sense! :extrahappy:

 

[Dale_M]

Good. Of course, the ruling is not binding outside the judge’s district. However, it does provide precedence and the issue has come up before in the US. No doubt it will arise again.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Good. Of course, the ruling is not binding outside the judge’s district. However, it does provide precedence and the issue has come up before in the US. No doubt it will arise again.

Well, the case was based on LA law. I don’t know where else you need a funeral director’s license to do some basic carpentry. However, I think the decision mentions other areas where the rule is in force.

Half of license regulations are just to protect the income of previous licensees.

 

[Dale_M]

Well, the case was based on LA law. I don’t know where else you need a funeral director’s license to do some basic carpentry. However, I think the decision mentions other areas where the rule is in force.

An earlier news story mentioned that the US appellate courts have given conflicting rulings on similar matters, and that the attorneys representing the monks thought the matter could go all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Jeff Rowes, lawyer with the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice that is representing the monks, said there is little doubt the case will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down similar restrictions in Tennessee, but Oklahoma funeral regulations were upheld by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/06/national/main20069195.shtml

An attorney for the funeral board of Louisiana says that an appeal will be made.

State funeral industry lawyer Preston L. Hayes said that he expects his clients to appeal the decision to the federal 5th Circuit Court, also in New Orleans. If Duval’s decision stands there, they can then appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reviews only a very small minority of cases.

nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/07/st_joseph_abbey_triumphs_in_ca.html

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

The judge ruled thusly:

“1) The challenged law prohibits residents of Louisiana from selling caskets retail;
however, any person living in Louisiana can purchase a casket on the internet.
2) There is no requirement that a casket be used in a burial.
3) There is no relation between the obtaining of a funeral license and the ability to
manufacture and sell a casket.
4) The only protection afforded by the Act is the economic protection of the funeral
directors which this Court has held not to be in and of itself a rational basis for the
Act under the Constitution of the United States for the reasons stated in its
previous order.”

ecf.laed.uscourts.gov/doc1/08515309765

The court was ruling on equal protection of laws and if there was a rational basis for the law. So, I think it will be an uphill battle to overturn the ruling.

 

[7_Sorrows]

glad to hear that the monks can continue to build the caskets. i hope they will remain victorious and not be challenged again.