The Institute for Justice

The Institute for Justice: "The Irrationalities of Occupational Licensing
 
The licensing of lower-income occupations is both widespread and onerous—but the data in this report also show that it is, in many cases, irrational and arbitrary.
On July 21, 2011, a federal court in Louisiana, a Tier 1 state, struck down a requirement that casket sellers be licensed as funeral directors.  The court recognized that the state had “no rational basis” for imposing the burden of a funeral director’s license—which includes apprenticing at a licensed funeral home, mastering irrelevant skills and passing a funeral industry test—on those who merely sell empty boxes (i.e., caskets).  
As the court declared, “The licensing scheme is not rationally related to public health and safety concerns….[I]t is detrimental to the welfare of the consumers and does not protect the health and safety of the public.”14  Instead, the court found, “The provisions simply protect a well-organized industry that seeks to maintain a strict hold on this business.”15  The court’s conclusion could be said of numerous occupations in this report."



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