A piece of legislation designed to allow the monks at St. Joseph Abbey, a Benedictine order, to make and sell their caskets in Louisiana failed again this year to make it out of committee. As a result, the monks can only sell the caskets outside the state.

This may change soon.

The order, assisted by the nonprofit group Institute for Justice, has filed a lawsuit to sell the caskets in the state. “We can sell to anyone out of state legally, but within the state, no,” said Abbott Justin Brown of the Abbey. “In addition, anyone in Louisiana can order a casket through the Internet from anyone outside the state and it is legal.”

The caskets have traditionally been built for the members of the order, other priests and even bishops, said Deacon Mark Coudrain, manager of the Abbey’s St. Joseph Woodworks. The problem arose when people attending the funerals admired and then ordered the caskets for loved ones.

They can best be described as simple in design. Wooden rectangles, they have no decoration, no bronze or fancy carving. Instead, the caskets are made of cypress. The interior is also simple, with none of the tufted satin usually associated with funerals. Instead, the interior’s simple design contains a pillow and lining made from muslin.

Coudrain estimates they get about 60 requests a year for the caskets.

“We simply want a right to an honest living, to sell directly to people,” said the Abbott. “Laws should be for the protection of health and safety and in this case, there are no health or safety violations.”

The Institute for Justice has issued a litigation backgrounder for the case they are handling pro bono. It is entitled, “free the Monks and Free Enterprise: Challenging Louisiana’s Casket Cartel.”

According to the document, the first question is, “Can the government restrict economic liberty just to enrich a group of politically favored insiders?” The Institute is 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 caskets.”

Under Louisiana law, it is a crime for anyone but a licensed funeral director to sell “funeral merchandise” which includes caskets. However, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that funeral homes are required to and must agree to use caskets bought elsewhere without charging a surcharge or handling fee to those who wish to supply their own casket.

Many people can and do buy caskets from out of state, which are legal under Louisiana law. A person can also make and give a casket to someone legally in Louisiana.

According to the lawsuit filed by the Institute on behalf of the Abbey against the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, the complain filed is for “declaratory and injunctive relief” and was filed in the United State District Court Eastern District of Louisiana.

The introduction of the suit states that the “Through the enforcement of arbitrary, excessive and anachronistic occupational licensing laws and regulations, the State of Louisiana currently prohibits the monks from pursuing work.”

The work is described as “sell simple wooden caskets as part of their ministry and to raise funds for their monastery.”

Under the factual allegations “What is a casket?” it is determined that “A casket is not required for burial in Louisiana.

A person can be buried directly in the ground or in a shroud.” It further states that “A casket is not required for burial in any state in the country.”

Among the statistics cited in the lawsuit, about 40,000 people in the state die each year with 400 funeral establishments handling the arrangements. The national average cost of a funeral, not including a cemetery plot and grave marker, was $7,323 in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The largest cost is the casket, an average of about $2,255.

About 75 percent of caskets are made of steel with prices ranging from $800-$10,000. Hardwood caskets of oak, cherry, walnut or mahogany are about 15 percent of the market. Wood caskets cost from $400-$4,000. The plain cypress caskets from the Abbey are priced at $1,500 or $2,000, depending upon the style.

The monks began building caskets to provide an income. They receive no support from the Catholic Church. In the past, they have farmed and harvested timber on their land but in the 1990s were advised by financial advisors to find a new way to support themselves.

In 1992, Bishop Stanley Ott of Baton Rouge died and was buried in one of the simple caskets the monks had built for decades for their own use. Many saw the simple casket and made inquiries as to where it came from.

As requests came in, the monks launched their business, Saint Joseph Woodworks, on All Sanits Day, Nov. 1, 2007. The caskets, two types, are either $1,500 or $2,000. They will store a purchased casket until it is needed.

The first formal complaint against the Abbey came from Boyd L. Mothe, Jr., the vice president of Mothe Funeral Homes on Jan. 8, 2008. The investigation then started.

As part of the lawsuit, the Institute states “Louisiana does not require most sellers of other nonperishable goods to obtain specialized licenses. For instance, no specialized license is required for the sale of clothing, computers, furniture or kitchen supplies...Nor does Louisiana require other retailers to obtain licenses that are only tangentially related to the goods being sold, as it does for caskets.”

In short, the complaint filed states that the monks right to due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment is being violated by the state’s funeral-licensing laws and regulations that are not rationally related to any legitimate health or public safety concerns.

Attempts to reach Mothe and other funeral directors as well as state legislators were unsuccessful as of press time on Friday afternoon.

Although the suit was filed Thursday afternoon, there is no date set for a hearing as of yet.