The board shall appoint an inspector or inspectors.... Inspectors ... shall have the right of entry into any place, where the business or profession of funeral directing is carried on or advertised as being carried on, for the purpose of inspection and for the investigation of complaints coming before the board and for such other matters as the board may direct.
the mission of the inspection system was to discover and correct violations of the building code, conditions that were relatively difficult to conceal or to correct in a short time. Periodic inspection sufficed, and inspection warrants could be required and privacy given a measure of protection with little if any threat to the effectiveness of the inspection system there at issue.
[t]he greater latitude to conduct warrantless inspections of commercial property reflects the fact that the expectation of privacy that an owner of commercial property enjoys in such property differs significantly from the sanctity accorded an individual's home, and that this privacy interest may, in certain circumstances, be adequately protected by regulatory schemes authorizing warrantless inspections.
the sheer quantity of pages of statutory material is not dispositive of [whether a particular business is ‘closely regulated’], ... the proper focus is on whether the regulatory presence is sufficiently comprehensive and defined that the owner of commercial property cannot help but be aware that his property will be subject to periodic inspections undertaken for specific purposes.
[w]here Congress has authorized inspection but made no rules governing the procedures that inspectors must follow, the Fourth Amendment and its various restrictive rules apply .... a warrant may be necessary to protect the owner from the unbridled discretion of executive and administrative officers, by assuring him that reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an ... inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular establishment.
Because many funeral homes have a very low call volume and it is not economically feasible to have a funeral director employed on a full-time basis, the Board would like to amend the [FDL] to authorize the Board to permit a funeral director to supervise more than one funeral establishment where the combined call volume is sufficiently small so that the supervising funeral director would be available at all supervised locations as needed.
[t]his provision shall not prevent a person licensed for the practice of funeral directing from assisting another duly licensed person, partnership or corporation in the conduct of the profession in an approved funeral establishment nor shall it prevent a person licensed for the practice of the profession from conducting a funeral at a church, a private residence of the deceased, or an approved funeral establishment.
[E]very establishment in which the profession of funeral directing is carried on shall include a preparation room, containing instruments and supplies necessary for the preparation and embalming of dead human bodies and be constructed in accordance with sanitary standards prescribed by the board, for the protection of the public health.
what makes garbage a profitable business is not its own worth but the fact that its possessor must pay to get rid of it. In other words, the article of commerce is not so much the solid waste itself, but rather the service of processing and disposing of it. With respect to this stream of commerce, the flow control ordinance discriminates, for it allows only the favored operator to process waste that is within the limits of the town. The ordinance is no less discriminatory because in-state or in-town processors are also covered by the prohibition.
any person engaged in the profession of a funeral director or in the care and disposition of the human dead, or in the practice of disinfecting and preparing by embalming the human dead for the funeral service, burial or cremation, or the supervising of the burial, transportation or disposal of deceased human bodies, or in the practice of funeral directing or embalming as presently known.
[a]ny person entering into any such contract as the seller shall deposit into a merchandise trust fund, established for that purpose with a banking institution in the Commonwealth authorized to perform trust functions, as trustee of such fund, seventy percent of the retail price of the personal property or personal services so sold for future need.
[n]o person other than a licensed funeral director shall, directly or indirectly, or through an agent, offer to or enter into a contract with a living person to render funeral services to such person when needed. If any such licensed funeral director shall accept any money for such contracts, he shall, forthwith, either deposit the same in an escrow account in, or transfer the same in trust to, a banking institution in this Commonwealth, conditioned upon its withdrawal or disbursement only for the purposes for which such money was accepted.
However, the key is: are the pre-need sales merchandising corporations ... operated separate and apart from the funeral business located at the same location? Are there two sets of bookkeeping records kept? Separate advertising signs? Do the corporations display signs for the public view at all? Which businesses display signs? Are there separate entrances? How is the building set up, i.e., a common vestibule leading to separate suites?
Today's preneed market is more challenging than ever. Everyone selling merchandise needs financial resources UPFRONT, in order to compete. That's why PFDA created the Pennsylvania Funeral Merchandise Trust. After careful legal research, a method has been established that allows a separate merchandising corporation to put 70 percent of the retail price of merchandise in trust under the terms of the Pennsylvania Future Interment Act—and makes 30 percent available to MEET THE COMPETITION with other merchandising companies.
Defendants do not oppose the ownership of merchandise companies by licensed funeral directors; however, separate companies must be set up to do this business. In that regard, the FDL requires 100% trusting of all pre-need monies received and the Future Interment Act requires only 70% trusting of pre-need monies. Keeping a bright-line distinction *420 between these companies (and the goods/services provided by each) is legitimate and protects consumers, makes it easier for employees to know the applicable trusting requirements, and enhances the enforcement ability of the Board given the different trusting requirements.
(a) The board, by a majority vote thereof, may refuse to grant, refuse to renew, suspend or revoke a license of any applicant or licensee, whether originally granted under this act or under prior act, for the following reasons: ... (8) Soliciting patronage other than by legitimate advertisement, or paying a commission or agreeing to pay a commission to any person or persons for soliciting or for business secured, or paying any gratuity to any person with intent to have such person aid in securing business, or other similar unprofessional conduct.
[T]he threshold inquiry is whether the state law has substantially impaired a contractual relationship. If the state regulation does constitute a substantial impairment, the second step is to determine whether there is a significant and legitimate public purpose behind the regulation, such as the remedying of broad and general social or economic problems. Once a legitimate public purpose has been identified, the court must address whether the adjustment of the parties' rights and responsibilities is based upon reasonable conditions and is of a character appropriate to the legislature's public purpose.
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