Federal appeals court rules that monks may sell caskets

March 22, 2013

Citing a state law that threatens violators with major fines and imprisonment, the Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors ordered the Benedictine monks of St. Joseph Abbey in 2010 to stop selling caskets. The monks, whose caskets were $250 cheaper than average, refused to seek a license because the law would have required them to convert the abbey into a funeral home with embalming equipment.

“This is a total vindication for the monks, and a total rejection of government's five-year campaign against them, to shut down Saint Joseph Woodworks,” stated a spokesman for the Institute of Justice, which represented the monks in court.

 

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Further information:

• Abbey Woodworks Wins Casket Case In "Landmark Ruling" (St. Joseph Abbey)
• St. Joseph Abbey casket sales can't be stopped by funeral industry, federal court rules (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• Victory in federal court for monks threatened with prison for selling caskets (CWN, 10/26/12)