George F. Will: Louisiana monks show why law should not protect 'rent seeking'

When circuit courts disagree, the Supreme Court should referee. The monks' lawyers — libertarians from the Institute for Justice — want the court to confront the consequences of its 1873 mistake. So, the monks' problem is much more than just another example of dumb bullying by government in cahoots with powerful interests. Last month, the 5th Circuit rejected Louisiana's casket nonsense, saying "neither precedent nor broader principles suggest that mere economic protection of a pet industry is a legitimate governmental purpose." And: "The great deference due state economic regulation does not demand judicial blindness to the history of a challenged rule or the context of its adoption nor does it require courts to accept nonsensical explanations for naked transfers of wealth."

If courts once again become properly impatient with nonsensical explanations, much of what government does will become untenable. It is lovely that revitalized protection of the individual rights of property and striving may owe much to an abbey where all property is communal.

George Will's email address is georgewill@washpost.com.