Ghoulish Words and the First Amendment

Troy Schoeller, who once made a living embalming the deceased, admits he said some pretty gross things to a reporter about the bodies he’s worked on. “I really hate embalming fat people,” he said in a 2006 Boston Phoenix article, before describing how obese cadavers leak butter. And then there was the baby whose skull was cut open by a medical examiner to remove the brain, leaving the child looking “like a bearskin rug.”

Pretty nasty stuff. But it is protected by the First Amendment?

The Massachusetts Supreme Court will decide that question. After the article appeared, state officials yanked Schoeller’s embalmers license, saying he acted unprofessionally and violated a rule prohibiting embalmers from talking about the condition of bodies in their care. Schoeller fought back, arguing that his comments, while not terribly well chosen, were factual and concerned matters of public interest. He wants his license back. Read more on the case here.

A ruling is expected within a few months. In the meantime, Schoeller, who is remarkably tattooed and ripped, is working at his Boston clothing store, Horror Business, fronting for the punk band Razors in the Night, and living in an apartment with a coffin-shaped coffee table.