NABR Animal Law §ection - Personhood For Animals

Lawyers within the Animal Rights Movement have begun to lay the groundwork and test new legal theories in a focused and determined effort to grant additional legal protections for animals, including animals involved in research. The leaders of this legal movement advocate enacting new federal, state, and local laws and ordinances as well as establishing new court precedents that have the potential to significantly interfere with animal research.

This long-term, step-by-step strategy includes a multi-front campaign to toughen state animal cruelty laws, replace the term owner with guardian in local and state statutes, increase access to federal courts by eliminating standing requirements, enact statutes or establish new case law to permit higher levels of compensation for non-economic damages, expand tort law, enact laws that allow trusts to be set up for family pets, and eventually establish a form of legal personhood for some species of animals. While many of these strategies do not appear, at first glance, to affect laboratory animals, the "sum of their parts" has the potential to have an enormous impact on life-saving medical and scientific research.

The impact of this coordinated and incremental strategy can already be seen. Animal rights lawyers have drawn support from prominent legal theorists like Harvard professors Lawrence Tribe, Cass Sunstein, and Alan Dershowitz. Several cities and one state (Rhode Island) have enacted 'pet guardian' laws. Animal law is currently taught at nearly a quarter of the nation's 180 accredited law schools. State, Regional and Local Bar Associations are adding new animal law committees and sections to advocate for new animal rights and protections.

Steven Wise, the person who has received the most press attention following the publication of his new book, Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights, argues that certain species of animals should be granted basic legal rights based on their mental abilities. In his book he cites scientists in different fields who lead him to conclude that some animals are so much like humans in significant ways that they deserve some of the basic legal rights that all humans enjoy.

Wise argues that certain animals should be granted new rights on two separate legal grounds – Equality and Liberty. With respect to equality, he simply argues that like beings should be treated alike. Because chimpanzees and certain other animal species are so much like humans, they should be granted basic legal rights. At a minimum they should have a right to bodily integrity, which means no captivity, and no medical research.

With regard to liberty rights, Wise argues that humans have rights because they have practical autonomy. A being has practical autonomy if it (1) can desire; (2) can intentionally try to fulfill those desires; and (3) possesses a sense of self sufficiency and self-awareness. He then evaluates different animal species based upon these criteria. If they met the criteria, he then argues that they should be entitled to basic legal rights. Bodily integrity again being the basic minimum legal right.

Wise is hoping to start slow with this argument and gradually progress. His first goal is to convince a state court that a chimpanzee is so like a human being that it should be given this fundamental right. If he is successful, he believes it would then be easier to convince other state courts to rule similarly. He would then move on to other animal species based upon this precedent.

Model Brief by GRASP
(Great Ape Standing & Personhood)

"In the year 2000, Seton Hall Constitutional Law Journal published the article "From Property to Person: The Case of Evelyn Hart" which includes a model brief on behalf of a plaintiff who demands equal rights beyond humanity. . . . In the context of non-human personhood, this article marks the debut of a model U.S. Supreme Court brief in the legal literature. This is designed to spark further debate in law and philosophy journals, to enhance ethics courses, to be cited in court, and to be used in an actual case on behalf of a non-human plaintiff and her class."
Read the brief

NEWS ARTICLES

Law Schools Make Room For Animals
CBS News, March 18, 2005 - It's called animal law and Taimie Bryant, an animal law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, says it goes far beyond custody battles over Bowser. The concern is less about pound animals or the nations 280 million domestic pets than the 10 billion animals that are raised for food and research; creatures largely unprotected by cruelty and welfare laws.
Read the article

Now It's the Lawyers' Turn - Animal Rights Moves Into Courts, Legislatures
AVMA News, March 1, 2005
Read the article

Animal Personhood—A Threat to Research?
Steve Michael
The Physiologist, Volume 47, No. 6, December 2004
Read the Article

Personhood' Redefined
The AAMC Reporter
Read the Article

Activists Seek Personhood for Animals
JAVMA News
Read the Article

Introduction to Animal Rights
Joseph Lubinski
Read the Article

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LAW REVIEW ARTICLES

The Evolving Legal Status of Chimpanzees
Symposium
9 Animal L. 1 (2003)
Read the Transcript (pdf)

Integrating Animal Interests Into Our Legal System
David Favre
10 Animal L. 87 (2004)
Read the article (pdf)

Book Review: “Rattling The Cage: Toward Legal Rights For Animals” By Steven M. Wise.
Richard A. Posner
The Yale Law Journal, 2000
Read the Article

The Rights of Animals
Cass R. Sunstein
The University of Chicago Law Review (2003)
Read the Article (pdf)

Ten Lessons Our Constitutional Experience Can Teach Us About the Puzzle of Animal Rights: The Work of Steven M. Wise
Laurence H. Tribe,
7 Animal L. 1 (2001.)
Read the Article (pdf)

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FEDERAL LEGISLATION

(current congressional session)
Bills Introduced
New Laws Enacted
Private Right of Action &
Standing under AWA

STATE ACTIVITIES

Animal Cruelty
Ownership v. Guardianship
Personhood for Animals
Pet Custody Disputes
Pet Trusts

Tort Law
Overview
Non-Economic Damages
Emotional Distress
Loss of Companionship
Primary Interests of a Chimp
Veterinarian Malpractice

Ballot Initiatives
Summary

LAW SCHOOLS

Animal Law Courses
Student Groups

BAR ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association
State Bar Associations
Local/Regional Bar Associations

RESOURCES

News Articles
Law Review Articles
International Trends
Events
Quotes
Bibliography
Advocacy Links