Lucker, et al., v. Bayside Cemetary, et al., No. 07-CV-3823; 08-CV-3555; 08-CV-3923 2009 (E.D.N.Y., Sep 30, 2009), 2009 WL 3213079

As many of our loyal readers are aware, the CAFA Law Blog originates from the great State of Louisiana. As many of those same readers will no doubt know, the State is steeped in rich stories of spirituality, mysticism, and chicanery.

We have a bit of a fascination with afterworld down here. What Dat you say; Who Dat you ask?[1] 

Well, for instance, have you heard that the state has a football team named the Saints?[2] You might have. Its Quarterback has been elevated to a mystic / saintly status (WWBD?).[3] For years the team was less than stellar, and the local myth was that the Dome (where Saints play its games) was built on a burial ground and was cursed.[4] (Segue)

Ahh, yes. The cemetery plays a crucial role in the State’s lore. As we are sure that our loyal readers are aware, the State, and New Orleans in particular, is famous for cemeteries. There is the famed, Saint Louis No. 1, where the alleged voodoo queen is buried. Then, there are the infamous voters who matriculate from their graves to Louisiana’s poles every election despite the fact that they have long since passed this mortal coil.

The Eastern District of New York has added to the lore of the cemetery (even if it doesn’t deal with Louisiana). The Lucker decision involved representatives of a number of estates bringing a purported class action against a congregation and the cemetery that it had purchased for failing to maintain the representatives’ deceased relatives’ burial plots. The Court held that for CAFA purposes, the legal representative of an estate must assume the state citizenship of the deceased. Applying this rule, the Court dismissed the purported class finding that the discretionary home-state jurisdictional exception applied.

Did we mention that the Saints (the New Orleans Saints, really) are in the Super Bowl? Dat Who!