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Appellate Advocacy Keyed to Meador, 2nd Ed.
Rice v. Sioux City Memorial Park Cemetery, Inc.
Citation:
349 U.S. 70 (1955)Facts
The plaintiff, Mrs. Rice, purchased a burial lot from the defendant cemetery with a contract containing a provision that “burial privileges accrue only to members of the Caucasian race.” When she attempted to bury her husband, a Winnebago Indian, the cemetery refused service after funeral services had been conducted at the grave site. Mrs. Rice sued for damages based on mental suffering caused by this refusal. During the litigation, the Iowa legislature enacted a statute prohibiting cemeteries from denying burial privileges based on race or color, though the statute specifically exempted pending litigation from its application. The case raised complex constitutional questions about whether judicial enforcement of the racially restrictive covenant as a defense constituted “state action” under the Fourteenth Amendment.
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