Louisiana regulators have decided to appeal a ruling in favor of casket-making monks that found a state law unconstitutional in giving funeral directors exclusive rights to sell caskets. The law has been criticized as a case of a powerful lobby getting politicians to snuff out their competition. Louisiana legislators caved into demands for the protective measures, but Judge Stanwood R. Duval, of the U.S. District Court in New Orleans found that the legislation did not even satisfy the low rational basis test. The regulators are now appealing to the Fifth Circuit.
The monks of the St. Joseph Abbey of Covington have made simple wood caskets to the chagrin of the funeral home lobby. For full disclosure, we buried my father in a casket made by monks on the East Coast. As a lifetime and accomplished wood worker, the simple but elegant casket was much preferred over the garish and gaudy things sold by funeral directors. It was a beautifully hand-made wooden coffin.
Duval saw the law as little more than a monopoly secured from politicians yielding to a well-heeled lobby. He found that “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 these rules.”
In St. Joseph Abbey v. Castille, Duval noted
With the advent of the internet, consumers can now buy caskets from retailers across the country including Wal-Mart and online retailers such as Amazon.com. (T.T. at 67). This fact is salient in that Louisianians can indeed purchase from these out of state retailers who are not subject to the Act. Indeed, with the exception of an April 13, 2009 Cease and Desist Order issued to National Memorial Planning, the EFD Board has not issued any other Cease and Desist orders to out-of state casket retailers in the last ten years. (Doc. 73, Pretrial Order, Uncontested Material Fact M, at 12). Thus, it is clear that Louisiana consumers are able to buy caskets from anyone out of state—from individuals that are not licensed funeral directors and companies that are not state-licensed funeral establishments. Equally clear is that they do not enjoy this right with respect to in-state retailers. In addition, the cost of these out of state caskets can be substantially less than most caskets offered by licensed funeral directors.
Now, the Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, indicated that his clients will appeal. Of course, any physical requirements for caskets are spelled out by regulation and can be further articulated in code. However, the regulators insist that you need professionals in dealing with people who are grieving. Yet in his stinging decision, Judge Duval noted that “the only persons being protected are the funeral directors of Louisiana and their coffers.”
Source: NOLA
Jonathan Turley
Why bother spending money on lobbying efforts, when you can do like Big Labor does and buy the politicians directly through campaign donations?
Heavy Hitter List is loaded with Union players
from Open secrets, Gene H.
Don’t feed the trolls, esp. when they hijack in the manner favored by wingnuts everywhere……State regulatory boards typically only have 1 or 2 “consumer” members and the rest represent the occupation or trade that is to be regulated. there are countless examples of where they fail to discipline members of the regulated profession. There was a major scandal in Ohio about 10 years ago because a once nationally-prominent clinical psychologist received only wrist slaps for repeated instances of dual relationships (sleeping with patients). It usually takes something like that to break-up the clubby atmosphere of many regulatory Boards.
puzzling,
And I offer you a big “so what?” in return. Compared to the aggregate corporate spending, it’s still a drop in the bucket even if it’s true. Keep in mind that your source here isn’t public records (which is where Open Secrets gets their data), but rather the biased WSJ (an organ of Rupert Murdoch and the GOP) and CBS (owned by Viacom, another GOP friendly corporation). You also discount the corporate effects of organizations like ALEC which skirt lobbying reporting laws but still manage to get the corporations involved in the legislative process. Your demonization of unions stands in stark contrast to the reality of the primary drivers in the whole pay to play issue: corporations and corporate organizations. It’s ideological opposition rather than fact based opposition. If you want to be against unions ideologically, that’s just fine by me, however, to frame this issue as being driven let alone dominated by unions is simply and factually incorrect.
“However, the regulators insist that you need professionals in dealing with people who are grieving. Yet in his stinging decision, Judge Duval noted that “the only persons being protected are the funeral directors of Louisiana and their coffers.”
Having been involved in making the funeral arrangements for both my mother and father, the statement re: helping grieving people is absurd. As a Jew religiously our tradition is to bury people in a plain pine casket. At some point in the Funeral Director’s sales pitch they take you down to their “casket showroom” where on each casket the price of the funeral/casket is displayed on a card on each item. You are typically led to the most expensive first and have to work your way down, which for some becomes dealing with feelings they aren’t doing right by their loved one.
Once the casket is picked out and the base price noted, they take you back to an office where they discuss addons like how many limousines, etc. Take away the false piety and solemn miens of the FD’s and this is just like buying a car, down to a final discussion of what options to choose and the financing. The difference is you are in a state of grief, particularly true for observant Jews where the burial must take place on the following day.
This is an example merely of another way wealth influences government in the service of the wealthy.
Gene,
I don’t know what was happening to public sector workers in 1998, but the huge growth of government in the Bush years has changed the dynamic entirely. In 2010 soaring compensation plans and benefits of public sector workers are bankrupting cities and states. Enormous political donations from public sector unions buys “workers” the power to tax and borrow to maintain the security of their overcompensated lifestyles.
From CBS:
Public-Sector Union AFSCME Now No.1 Spender in 2010 Election Cycle
Frankly,
you are correct that GE and Exxon/Mobil and all of those large companies that paid zero federal taxes and in some cases received millions in refunds should get a lower tax rate in order to save the economy!
raff – great catch I had forgotten how the unions, increasing tax burden and regulations during the Bush years brought the entire world to the brink of economic collapse. If only the bankers and the credit rating agencies had been free from the tyranny of organized labor and Federal oversight I am sure none of this would have happened. Plus I am sure the tax rates those guys pay – I mean GE, News Corp, Westinghouse and many others only paid federal taxes in the MINUS 10-20% range – surly they would have taken much better care of us if only the government had given them even more money.
Finally a judge with some sense and not bought and paid for by the lobbyists. What a pleasant surprise.
puzzling:
I dont think its unions on this one. This is a restraint in free trade. Nothing wrong with unions, people have a right to organize and to collective bargaining in a private company.
OOPS–left off the link.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/rulemaking/funeral/16cfr453.pdf
Great response Gene and Frankly. I think we forget that the unions and teachers and policemen and paramedics are the reason why the economy crashed during the Bush regime!
How are the Louisiana undertakers getting around Federal Trade Commission rules?
16 CFR Ch. I, Part 453.4
>regulators insist that you need professionals in dealing with people who are grieving
I understand their point of course. Without the aid of a professional salesperson there’s no telling how little a grieving family might spend.
Gene – no no no no no! EVERY problem in the history of mankind has been caused by taxes and government regulation, didn’t you know that? OH, and unions. Everything in the world was perfect until unions came along and destroyed capitalism completely then used the billions they stole from those faultless Masters Of the Universe to buy politicians who would tax and regulate all that is good and decent out of existence.
You may think the Gilded Age was corrupt and abused workers and the communities we all live in. You may think things actually got better once unions balanced the power of management and the government made companies behave in ways more ethical and, in the long run, better for everyone even the companies. Hell you may even be so confused as to believe the US had the greatest economic expansion in the history of the world growing out of all that evil labor organization and government intervention. But you can’t let reality cloud your judgment! THESE are the good old days! Historically low taxation, greatly reduced and emasculated regulation. This is the new Gilded Age and we are all going to share the great benefits.
Gene – no no no no no! EVERY problem in the history of mankind has been caused by taxes and government regulation, didn’t you know that? OH, and unions. Everything in the world was perfect until unions came along and destroyed capitalism completely then used the billions they stole from those faultless Masters Of the Universe to buy politicians who would tax and regulate all that is good and decent out of existence.
You may think the Gilded Age was corrupt and abused workers and the communities we all live in. You may think things actually got better once unions balanced the power of management and the government made companies behave in ways more ethical and, in the long run, better for everyone even the companies. Hell you may even be so confused as to believe the US had the greatest economic expansion in the history of the world growing out of all that evil labor organization and government intervention. But you can’t let reality cloud your judgment! THESE are the good old days! Historically low taxation, greatly reduced and emasculated regulation. This is the new Gilded Age and we are all going to share the great benefits.
“the regulators insist that you need professionals in dealing with people who are grieving”……….
Damn and you’d think a monk or any religious type person would have experience with that…..I suppose the Funeral Directors are trying to line the lining….or would that be coffins…coffers….
What is interesting is that the funeral expenses are paid even before TAXES….I wonder who has the strongest lobby….Here is an excerpt from the UPC:
Section 3‑805. Classification of Claims.
(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to pay all claims in full, the personal representative shall make payment in the following order:
(1) costs and expenses of administration;
(2) reasonable funeral expenses;
(3) debts and taxes with preference under federal law;
(4) reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness of the decedent, including compensation of persons attending him;
(5) debts and taxes with preference under other laws of this state;
(6) all other claims.
(b) No preference shall be given in the payment of any claim over any other claim of the same class, and a claim due and payable shall not be entitled to a preference over claims not due.
Isn’t the Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors a state agency? Doesn’t this agency “represent” the people of LA? Wasn’t it formed to protect the interests of LA citizens? This board’s “clients” are not funeral directors, but the people of the state of LA. Very confusing.
puzzling,
And yet the union didn’t even make the top twenty in lobbying expenditures for the years 1998 to 2011.
US Chamber of Commerce $770,655,680
General Electric $252,971,000
American Medical Assn $252,037,500
AARP $207,432,064
Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America $204,433,920
American Hospital Assn $203,648,736
Blue Cross/Blue Shield $169,655,236
National Assn of Realtors $166,150,553
Northrop Grumman $164,835,253
Exxon Mobil $163,512,742
Verizon Communications $158,179,841
Edison Electric Institute $154,005,999
Business Roundtable $150,550,000
Boeing Co $147,884,310
Lockheed Martin $142,374,763
AT&T Inc $126,449,336
Southern Co $124,140,694
General Motors $121,899,170
PG&E Corp $119,190,000
Pfizer Inc $114,757,268
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s
Yep, not a single union in the top twenty for lobbying expenditures. Your ideological urge to demonize unions entirely misses both the point, severity and primary culprits of the graft for legislation problem, puzzling. A problem which is directly created by a lack of regulation of corporate behavior I might add. So before throwing stones at unions, might I suggest throwing stones at the actual problem – lobbying in general and campaign finance. A union (or any other group) shouldn’t have to spend a dime to get their voice heard in Washington. They should be able to make their best case and legislators should be able to take that information and move forward in a rational plan of action that takes in all of this input to formulate a plan of legislation that works best for the best interests of all their constituents, not just servicing the ones throwing money about like drunk sailors on leave at a port brothel. (No insult to either drunk sailors or literal prostitutes intended.)
Textbook government regulation bought by political donors. Instead of pursuing fraud government is protecting those who helped to put officials in power while consumers are being robbed.
For the funeral industry this was a lucrative payoff, but nowhere near as good as the hundreds of billions that are paid out to public sector employees who represent the biggest lobby force of all. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spent nearly $100M in the 2010 election cycle to buy candidates who promise to actively expand government rolls and programs, spike salaries and pensions, and lock in platinum level benefits alongside lifetime employment expectations for this massive donor group.
A growing trend is that some people want to be buried in a “green” casket. One that will completely decay, leaving only organic material in the soil. A casket made of wood, assembled either with organic glue and/or nails (or screws) that are not galvanized but plain steel and will completely rust away. There are some companies that make a cardboard casket.
The funeral lobby is against this kind of thing because it is costing them money. The average funeral in this country runs between nine and twelve thousand dollars when handled by a funeral home. I got that figure from a local funeral director when we were having to deal with the death of my grandson earlier this year.