NJSFDA & N.J. Win Case Against Archdiocese

From Funeral Service Insider (www.funeralserviceinsider.com):

The New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association (NJSFDA) and the State of New Jersey were granted a motion for summary judgment in U.S. District Court against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark (RCAN) on February 23, 2018, upholding New Jersey’s Religious Cemeteries Act, the NJSFDA announced on its Facebook page.

George R. Kelder Jr., CEO and executive director of the NJSFDA, says, “The NJSFDA is extremely pleased with the conclusion and outcome of this case and the exoneration of the state’s reasonable and well-founded policy aimed at barring all cemeteries from commercializing their income and property tax exemptions. The need for expanded, incremental regulation to include religious cemeteries was not considered an issue until after the RCAN entered into the private mausoleum and monument business. This decision maintains an appropriate balance between the funeral and cemetery industries in the State of New Jersey.”

The Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm representing the archdiocese, says it will appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“Economic protectionism is not just wrong, it is unconstitutional. We look forward to making this argument on appeal,” IJ senior attorney Justin Pearson says in a statement.