Local monks continue to fight attacks from Louisiana funeral directors

St. Joseph Abbey monks oppose appeal to reinstate casket sales restriction

Published: Thursday, June 07, 2012

By Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune

 

Asked on Thursday why a panel of appellate judges in New Orleans should reinstate a law restricting retail casket sales to certified funeral directors, Louisiana funeral board lawyer David Gruning said that the statute shielded grieving people from "the trauma" of buying coffins that don't fit the area's unique burial spaces. Gruning argued that the law helped the regulatory board ensure that bereaved customers consulted with a licensed professional prior to making such an important purchase, which the attorney called "a legitimate government interest."

View full sizeRusty Costanza, The Times-PicayuneA group of monks from the St. Joseph Abbey in Covington head into the John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thursday, June 7, 2012.

 

However, Scott Bullock -- representing the monks of St. Joseph Abbey near Covington -- countered that the law Gruning defended was irrational and unconstitutional. The monks, who manufacture wooden caskets at the Abbey, in 2010 launched the lawsuit which resulted in the federal district court ruling that struck down the state law.
Funeral directors in Louisiana have never been required to study the manufacturing of coffins or the various configurations of tombs or vaults in school or after licensing, Bullock said, and they do not undergo special grief counseling. Bullock pleaded with 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Catharina Haynes, Patrick Higginbotham and Stephen Higginson to uphold the repeal of the statute because the law unfairly forced Louisianians wanting to buy caskets in their state to do so from funeral homes without giving them the option of turning to other vendors such as the Abbey.
Higginbotham, Haynes and Higginson will not rule on the appeal until a later date, probably before the end of the year. But, at the court of appeals building on Camp Street on Thursday, the judges staunchly challenged the arguments lodged by both Gruning and Bullock. A handful of monks and nuns in religious attire were dispersed among the spectators watching the proceedings.
Speaking to Gruning, Higginbotham said that he did not see the rationale for insisting that people become fully-licensed funeral directors to simply sell coffins.
Haynes, for her part, dubbed the monks "an extremely sympathetic opponent" to Gruning and the funeral board.
This legal saga started back in 2007, when the monks at St. Joseph first tried to sell cypress caskets made at their Abbey woodshop without paying the expensive fees and satisfying the stringent requirements to obtain certification from the Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. The Abbey said the casket sales would help finance medical and educational needs for more than 30 monks.
The funeral board, though, immediately mailed the monks a cease-and-desist letter, citing a law that carried thousands of dollars in fines and up to 180 days in prison for anyone selling coffins without a funeral director's license.
With the Virginia-based, libertarian Institute for Justice as its pro bono counsel, St. Joseph Abbey sued the funeral board. U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval ruled in the monks' favor last July 21, and the funeral board soon appealed.
While hearing oral arguments in the appeal, Haynes noted, "No one is challenging the quality of workmanship (on the caskets) and the honor with which it is done" by the Abbey monks.
Gruning conceded that was true. Nonetheless, he reiterated that it was important for residents to rely on a funeral director's advice at the point of shopping for a coffin. His arguments received support from Louisiana Funeral Directors Association lawyer Daniel Ranson, who briefly addressed the appellate panel.
Haynes, Higginbotham and Higginson grilled Bullock on his stance as well.
Haynes told Bullock that the state law Duval scrubbed from the books did seem to protect citizens from buying coffins of dubious condition from an amateur working out of "a garage down the street."
Higginson brought up the possibility that people in hospices and hospital wards might be exposed to insensitive, aggressive tactics of coffin hucksters without a law limiting who can sell caskets.
Bullock rebutted that the law the monks defeated in Duval's courtroom neither touches upon minimum casket specifications nor mandated a funeral box for burial.
Additionally, he argued that the funeral board could legislate a ban prohibiting casket sellers from soliciting customers on the grounds of medical centers or hospices.
Bullock portrayed the law the funeral board wanted to reinstate as "pure economic protectionism" that unfairly preserved a monopoly without benefiting consumers at large.
He requested that Haynes, Higginbottham and Higginson follow the decisions of other district and appellate courts that previously reached similar findings when dealing with related legal issues.
The lead plaintiffs in the case are Abbot Justin Brown and Deacon Mark Coudrain, who directs the monks' woodshop that produces the caskets. Helping Bullock litigate on their behalf are William H. Mellor, Jeff Rowes and Darpana Sheth of the Institute for Justice; and Frederick E. Schmidt Sr. of New Orleans.
Defendants sued in their official capacities as members of the funeral board are Paul "Wes" Castille; ; Patrick H. Sanders; Belva M. Pichon; Craig G. Gill; Andrew Hayes; Wall V. McKneely; Margaret Shehee; Kelly Rush Williams; and Louis Charbonnet. Their attorneys -- aside from Gruning -- are Michael H. Rasch, George B. Recile, Preston Lee Hayes and Walter R. Woodruff Jr.