St. Joseph Abbey monks can legally sell caskets (SCOTUS rejects LA funeral dir board rq for hearing

nola ^ | October 15, 2013 | Heather Nolan

[NYer]

The St. Joseph Abbey monks will be able to legally sell handcrafted caskets from their St. Tammany Parish monastery near Covington after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by Louisiana's board of funeral directors to overturn an appeals court ruling that allowed the monks to sell caskets without a funeral director's license.

"We're just happy to know that our economic liberty has been protected, and we're also happy to know that maybe we've helped secure the rights of others," Abbot Justin Brown said of the Supreme Court's decision. "It's a good feeling. It does...hopefully put this issue to rest."

The Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and the St. Joseph Abbey monks have been at odds since 2007, when the St. Joseph Abbey established St. Joseph's Woodworks to make and sell caskets to the general public to generate revenue to pay for the medical and educational needs of more than 30 Benedictine monks.

The board of state funeral directors sent the monks a cease-and-desist letter, citing a state law that says caskets can only be sold to the public by a state-licensed funeral director at a state-licensed funeral home.

The monks sued the group in the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2010, and U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled in favor of the St. Joseph Abbey in 2011. The board of funeral directors then appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld Duval's ruling.

The Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors in July filed a petition seeking a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court denied that petition Tuesday.

[NYer]

Throughout the legal saga, Brown said the monks have received a tremendous amount of support from the public. They also have gotten a lot of requests for caskets, he said. The court battle has given the St. Joseph Abbey more publicity than they ever could have imagined, he said.

Ping!

[JPG]

No wonder they’re ticked...tough to lose that 300-700%+ mark-up to the monks.

http://www.funerals.org/forconsumersmenu/casketretailers

[Albion Wilde]

Those certainly are handsome caskets.

[ClearBlueSky]

In Louisiana the politicians have to control everything-even the dead. Wonder why there’s no problem with Costco selling coffins?

[Albion Wilde]

No wonder they’re ticked...tough to lose that 300-700%+ mark-up to the monks.
http://www.funerals.org/forconsumersmenu/casketretailers

Great link, thanks! The way things are going, death is getting to be a more attractive prospect than signing up for health insurance!

[philetus]

It was a stupid argument.Next would be that a grocery store had to have a carpenter’s and a mechanic’s license to sell a screwdriver.

[bgill]

I tried Costco’s main site and it said they didn’t have coffins. Tried the closest one to here and same thing.

[terycarl]

call it a body box or whatever....such an asinine arguement...pathetic!