Minn. Judge: Policy Requiring Funeral Homes To Install Equipment That May Never Be Used is "Irrational"

Costs $30,000

MINNEAPOLIS — Requiring funeral homes to install expensive equipment it will never use is an "irrational policy that serves no legitimate governmental objective," a Minnesota judge says.

On Wednesday, Judge John Guthmann ruled in favor of plaintiffs who were challenging an onerous state law requiring funeral homes to install equipment for embalming dead bodies, even when those funeral homes do not use the equipment. The requirement stifles competition and increases prices for consumers by requiring funeral homes to spend $30,000 on unnecessary equipment, the plaintiffs in the case argued.