A Swift Victory for Alabama Entrepreneurs

Shelia Champion’s case is sure to be fresh in the minds of Liberty & Law readers. In the last issue, we let you know about Shelia’s challenge to an Alabama law that made it illegal for her to sell biodegradable caskets and shrouds without obtaining an expensive, unnecessary funeral director’s license and converting her cemetery into a funeral home.

Happily, victory has arrived for this entrepreneur. Exactly one month after IJ filed its lawsuit, the governor signed a bill that allowed Shelia and other entrepreneurs to sell caskets. The law removed sales of funeral merchandise from the definition of “funeral directing.” This is a complete victory for Shelia and anyone else who wants to sell caskets in Alabama. Shelia is excited to grow her business and to provide an environmentally friendly, inexpensive alternative for her customers, and IJ has rid yet another state of an unnecessary, burdensome restriction on casket sales.

As IJ President Scott Bullock mentions in this issue’s cover story, such a quick victory reflects how much has changed for IJ since its founding 25 years ago. Winning economic liberty cases was once regarded as impossible. Today, not only does IJ win them, but the government thinks twice before even facing IJ in court.