April 9th, 2010 is the deadline to file a claim in the Burr oak Cemetery Scandal. This scandal was exposed in July 2009. Over 300 Graves were desecrated and preneed funds (the money people paid for funerals) were stolen.
2009 Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal
“A deadline is approaching for families affected by the Burr Oak grave desecration scandal.
The desecration of hundreds of plots at the Alsip graveyard made national headlines last summer
Relatives of loved ones buried there now have until April 9, 2010 to file claims against the Alsip Cemetery.
Burr Oak Cemetery was shut down for several months after the discovery of a grisly scheme.
Four former cemetery workers are charged with digging up and re-selling graves.
The United States Congress is considering national cemetery reform in response to this scandal. The Legislation is called the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009(HR 3655).
Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.
A Memo on Burr Oak Cemetery was good political cannon fodder in the Illinois Governors Race. At the time of this post the results are not clear in the Governor democratic primary in Illinois . But what is clear is that that the horrible grave scandal At Burr Oak Cemetery and associated memo are a big a factor in the governors race between Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes.
Now it is quite unclear why the Grave Desecrations known about in 2003 were not reported to Law Enforcement by Perpetua and Slivy Edmonds Cotton a Perpetua Manager in Charge of Burr Oak. It is my opinion that Pat Quinn was making something out of nothing in the last days of the campaign with his Burr Oak cemetery attacks on Hynes.
Funeral News | Funeral Industry| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy
Congressman Bobby Rush did a good job summarizing National Cemetery Reform this week in a hearing in Congress. The reform comes in response to the horrific Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal that occurred in July 2009.
The Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act provides comprehensive National Cemetery Regulation for the first time in US History.
Here is part of the Congressman’s opening statement : At the hearing on the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act of 2009 “Planning for one’s own, or even a loved one’s death, is typically a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. It is often compounded by unpredictability.But just because death all too often comes like a thief in the night, bereaved consumers should not be left wondering who, in fact, was the real thief…death or the cemetery salesperson?
“On September 25, 2009, I introduced the “Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights.” Today, my Subcommittee is reviewing this draft bill at its first hearing of the new legislative session. To help us consider the measure, I am grateful to the accomplished panel of witnesses who have prepared testimony and saw fit to be here, today, to comment upon the merits and drawbacks of this important bill.
“Among H.R. 3655′s provisions, the bill would require the FTC to require ALL funeral goods and services providers, and not just “for profit” funeral homes, to do the following:
The Legislation was written in response to the Horriffic Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal outside Chicago
* provide consumers with accurate, itemized price information for each specific funeral good or service offered for sale;
* prohibit these providers from misrepresenting what federal, state, and local laws require in protecting consumers;
* include disclosures in pre-paid contracts regarding fees or penalties to be assessed for cancellation or transfer, by the purchaser, of burial, cremation, or entombment rights to different facilities, and * retain records of the date and location of each burial, cremation, and entombment as well as the corresponding rights of disposition (i.e., perpetual or term), and make those records available to federal, state, and local governments.
“In drafting this Bill of Rights, I have been earnest in respecting existing states’ laws. The bill would authorize both the FTC and the States Attorneys General, and other designated state entities, to enforce its requirements.-via www.house.gov
Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral|Cemetery Blog By Your Funeral Guy
This is a light in a dark place, A National Funeral and Cemetery Consumers Bill of rights.
Here is a “first news report” on a hearing that took place in Congress today on National Legislation coming in response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal. Congressman Bobby Rush had a hearing today January 27th 2009, on the Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights Act. The bill is H.R.3655.
NEWS-Hearing on Cemetery Reform in Washington DC today
2009 Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal inspired National Cemetery Reform Legislation
“WASHINGTON–In the wake of hundreds of grave desecrations at the historic Burr Oak Cemetery in south suburban Alsip, House Democrat Bobby Rush of Chicago wants to bolster federal consumer protections governing the sale of funeral goods and services.
Rush today led a congressional hearing to examine whether the FTC, which regulates funeral homes, should have its purview expanded to include cemeteries, crematories and sellers of caskets, urns, monuments and markers.
Most cemeteries operate as non-profits, a realm the FTC generally does not investigate, said Charles Harwood, deputy director of its Bureau of Consumer Protection. Under Rush’s proposal, the FTC would take oversight of such cemeteries.
The Burr Oak Cemetery made national news in July when it was learned that hundreds of corpses had been unearthed over several years anddumped into a weeded area of the cemetery or double-stacked in other graves.
The cemetery is the resting place of Emmett Till, whose murder helpedfuel the civil rights movement, and blues singer Dinah Washington,among other notables.
A Service Corporation International Cemetery, 500 graves desecrated, was a contributing factor in the Legislation
Rush said the horrific activities at Burr Oak were not an aberration,citing new allegations of desecrating graves and reselling plots later surfaced in Mission Hills, Calif., and DeKalb County, Ga.
“Just because death all too often comes like a thief in the night,” he said, “bereaved consumers should not be left wondering who, in fact,was the real thief: death or the cemetery salesperson.”
Patricia Brown Holmes, a retired judge who led an Illinois task forcethat led to tougher, just-enacted laws governing cemeteries in thestate, spoke in favor of Rush’s measure.
Holmes said the average consumer thinks of a funeral home and cemetery as one in the same, even though under federal laws, funeral homes areheavily regulated and cemeteries are not.
The National Funeral Directors Association also supports the measure,said Randall Earl, who has a funeral home and crematory in Decatur,Ill.
NFDA Eecutive Earl wante to be sure Wallmart Caskets are Covered
He told the panel that existing FTC rules pertaining to funeral homes do not cover casket sellers such as Wal-Mart and amazon.com, so the association wants the rules updated to cover them.
Under Rush’s proposal, new FTC regulations would require cemeteries andthe other newly covered sectors of the death-care industry to provide pre-sale price disclosures.
Misrepresentations would be prohibited and clear contracts itemizing goods, services and prices would be required.
A representative of the International Cemetery, Cremation and FuneralAssociation said cemeteries and funeral homes were best regulated at the state level. Paul M. Elvig said most cemeteries operated as nonprofits, including those run by religious, municipal and fraternal organizations, and the new regulations would disproportionately affect them “in ways that would never pass a cost/benefit analysis.”
Rush’s bill, called the Bereaved Consumer’s Bill of Rights Act, has five co-sponsors.”
–Katherine Skiba WGN 720-via mobile.wgnradio.com
Funeral Industry|Funeral News Blog by Your Funeral Guy
House Subcommittee on Commerce and Energy held the hearing.
Illinois has a New Cemetery law that was crafted in Response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal outside of Chicago. Here are 5 provisions of the new law.
2009 Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal maybe the most horrific in US History
1.Cemetery owners, managers and customer service employees will have to be licensed,
2.Regulatory agency will conduct audits
3.Regulatory agency will issue fines of up to $10,000 for violations such as poor grounds upkeep or failing to keep burial maps.
4. There will be a State Wide Burial Database keeping track of every burial in the state. This will prevent desecration of graves and reburials.
5. There will be a place for consumers to file complaints. This is important in preventing abuse.
“Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law Sunday that overhauls the way cemeteries are regulated in Illinois, a move brought about by the scandal at Burr Oak cemetery and one that officials say could ultimately shutter the troubled burial site.
State officials said the changes mark the first significant regulations imposed on an industry that has historically operated with little oversight. Employees at Burr Oak, near Alsip, were accused of digging up bodies and reselling plots for profit.”-via www.chicagotribune.com
Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy
This is the first time the cemetery industry has been regulated in the State of Illinois. The name of the New Law is the Cemetery Oversight Act.
This is good for the cemetery and funeral consumer in Illinois and provides an example for the rest of the nation.
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