We have become so regulated, and government has become so much a tool of particular businesses over others, that in Louisiana monks of Saint Joseph Abbey cannot even build and sell caskets for those who would prefer a simple casket.
Fortunately, the Institute for Justice is prepared to defend the right of a monastery to build well-made and simple caskets for those might prefer them. Were that defense not available, monks at an American monastery would find themselves unable to continue doing do what they’ve been doing for one hundred years.
(It’s not whether one style is better, but rather that people should be able to choose, and the monks should be able to satisfy some of those choices.)
Louisiana’s government may be under the sway of funeral directors seeking to maximize profits for themselves, and exclude legitimate alternatives for grieving families, but it’s a violation of Americans’ economic liberty. (It’s also a despicable collision between Louisiana’s politicians and avaricious businesspeople.)
The Institute for Justice has filed a federal lawsuit, Saint Joseph Abbey, et al. v. Castille, et al., to challenge Louisiana’s casket cartel. See, Free the Monks and Free Enterprise: Challenging Louisiana’s Casket Cartel in Federal Court.
Here’s a video that explains what’s at stake, with accompanying commentary from the Institute afterward:
The Institute summarizes the fundamental right that’s now threatened:
Can the government restrict economic liberty just to enrich a group of politically favored insiders?
That’s the question the Institute for Justice and its client, Saint Joseph Abbey of St. Benedict, La., have taken to federal court in challenging the constitutionality of Louisiana’s outrageous requirement that the monks of the Abbey must be licensed as funeral directors and convert their monastery into a licensed funeral home in order to sell their handmade wooden casket.
Under Louisiana law, it is a crime for anyone but a licensed funeral director to sell “funeral merchandise,” which includes caskets. To sell caskets legally, the monks would have to abandon their calling for one full year to apprentice at a licensed funeral home, learn unnecessary skills and take a funeral industry test. They would also have to convert their monastery into a “funeral establishment” by, among other things, installing equipment for embalming human remains.
On August 12, 2010 [today], the Institute for Justice teamed up with the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey to file a federal constitutional lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to vindicate their right to earn an honest living. In a time of 10 percent unemployment and widespread economic pessimism, this case raises one of today’s most important constitutional questions: May the government restrict economic liberty just to enrich a group of politically favored insiders such as licensed funeral directors?
One of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans is the right to earn an honest living in the occupation of our choice without arbitrary government interference. Louisiana’s casket licensing law violates that right.
For more about the case, readers can visit a helpful resource page.
Best wishes for IJ client Abbott Justin Brown and for the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey.