Church Cemetery Banned from Selling Headstones

This case is about one of the most blatant violations of economic liberty in America. It vividly illustrates what is wrong with legislatures in New Jersey and across the country: governments passing anti-competitive laws just to line the pockets of industry insiders at the expense of the public.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, along with parishioners Emilio Mazza and Dennis Flynn, Sr., and the Institute for Justice have filed suit in federal court to challenge the constitutionality of an outrageous new law that makes it a crime to sell monuments, such as headstones, to parishioners. This law targets the Archdiocese, which is the only religious cemetery in the state selling headstones. The New Jersey Legislature passed the law in February 2015, and Governor Christie signed it on March 23, 2015.

The Monument Builders Association of New Jersey—the lobbying arm of the headstone-dealer industry—convinced the state legislature to pass this law after losing a lawsuit last spring against the Archdiocese. In 2013, the Monument Builders sued the Archdiocese in state court, arguing that it was “unfair” for private religious cemeteries to sell headstones, but lost because it was not illegal for the Archdiocese to sell headstones to people being buried in its cemeteries. After that ruling, the Monument Builders ran to the legislature begging for the self-serving new law.

The Monument Builders lobbied for this law to protect their own revenue at the expense of the Archdiocese and its parishioners. There is no public health or safety reason to limit who can sell headstones. There is no evidence that the Archdiocese harms its parishioners by selling them headstones. A headstone is just a rock (a beautiful rock with great symbolic value, but still just a rock). This law is simply about protecting the financial interests of the Monument Builders. It represents an abuse of public power for private gain.

On July 21, 2015, the Institute for Justice, the Archdiocese of Newark, Emilio Mazza, and Dennis Flynn, Sr., filed a federal constitutional lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to defend economic liberty. The objectives of this case are to vindicate the rights of the Archdiocese and its parishioners, and to establish the principle that the government cannot pass a law solely for the private financial benefit of politically connected insiders. The legal precedent from this case will protect entrepreneurs and consumers everywhere.
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