FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 8/15/2024
CONTACT: Phillip Suderman, [email protected], (850) 376-4110
ARLINGTON, Va.—Today, the Newaygo County Circuit Court heard oral arguments on a motion for summary disposition brought by Brooks Township seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Peter and Annica Quakenbush with the help of the Institute for Justice (IJ). In a stunning turn of events, the Court not only denied the motion but ruled that the township’s ban on new cemeteries was unconstitutional, signaling a win on the merits for Peter and Annica. The next step is for the Court to enter a written order formalizing the ruling. The township retains the option to appeal but did not immediately make their intentions known.
“We’re excited and feel vindicated by this ruling,” said Peter and Annica Quakenbush. “We are delighted that the judge understood that Brooks Township’s ordinance violated our right to use our property and operate our cemetery.”
The ruling comes after years of work and months of litigation by Peter and Annica to open a green cemetery business in Brooks Township. The idea for the business had long been a dream for the couple.
Peter, whose passion for nature led him to pursue a Ph.D. in biology, realized over ten years ago that green burial aligns with his and Annica’s personal philosophy of sustainability and closeness to nature. So, they decided to open a burial forest. And they found the perfect location last year in Brooks Township, Michigan. The property is high, dry, and covered in a native forest more than 100 years old—ideal for a burial forest and nature preserve.
But the township resisted. The township decided it didn’t want a green cemetery and moved to arbitrarily ban them. Because the ban was enacted specifically to stop the Quakenbushes’ plan, the ordinance’s definition of “cemetery” includes “green cemetery, conservation cemetery, burial forest or forest cemetery.” The law is also so broad as to ban not just Peter and Annica’s project, but all new cemeteries. The township took this drastic measure because the Quakenbushes had done everything above-board—presumably there were no other excuses to stop the cemetery.
So Peter and Annica teamed up with IJ to uphold their right under the Michigan Constitution to open a business that does not harm the public and has received support from local residents, many of them showing up to testify in support before the Brooks Township board. They also have a growing waitlist of people who wish to use their services should they ever be allowed to open.
Today’s ruling provides vindication for Peter and Annica and a precedent for others in Michigan with a dream for opening their own small business.
“This victory recognizes Peter and Annica’s constitutional right to start a business. The township can’t just ban a necessity of life like a cemetery,” added IJ Attorney Katrin Marquez. “People won’t stop dying just because the township doesn’t want them buried there.”
Founded in 1991, the Institute for Justice litigates nationwide to defend property rights, economic liberty, educational choice, and free speech. Recently, IJ launched the Zoning Justice Project, which aims to protect and promote the freedom to use property. IJ has worked against arduous zoning rules in cases such as a North Carolina animal sanctuary’s right to operate in the face of arbitrary county regulations. In Fort Pierce, Florida, IJ helped defeat a zoning law that banned food trucks within 500 feet of an established restaurant.
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To arrange interviews on this subject, journalists may contact Phillip Suderman, IJ’s Communications Project Manager at [email protected] or (850) 376-4110. More information on the case is available at: https://ij.org/case/michigan-green-burial/