Judge denies habeas for chimps, suggests possible change in the future
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A Manhattan judge has refused to grant a writ of habeas corpus to chimpanzees Hercules and Leo, who are used for research on primate locomotion at Stony Brook University.
Judge Barbara Jaffe said she was bound by a New York appeals decision that found chimps don’t have the same status as people because they can’t take on the duties or responsibilities of humans, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the New York Times, Courthouse News Service and the New York Law Journal (sub. req.).
Jaffe’s opinion (PDF), issued on Thursday, said efforts to extend legal rights to chimps are “understandable,” and “some day they may even succeed.” She noted that the concept of personhood has evolved significantly. “Not very long ago,” she wrote, only Caucasian male, property-owning citizens were entitled to the full panoply of legal rights under the United States Constitution.”
She also noted changes in animal law. Some animals such as pets are being treated as more than property, and New York allows domestic animals and pets to be named as trust beneficiaries.
The Nonhuman Rights Project had argued the chimps have legal personhood because of their complex cognitive abilities, self-awareness and capacity for empathy. The group’s petition had sought transfer of Hercules and Leo to a Florida animal sanctuary.
The New York Attorney General’s office, arguing for Stony Brook, had argued that giving habeas rights to chimps could produce disastrous results.
“Any such extension of the writ could set a precedent for the release of other animals held in captivity, whether housed at a zoo, in an educational institution, on a farm, or owned as a domesticated pet, and enmesh New York courts in continuing litigation,” the Attorney General’s office argued in a brief.
The Nonhuman Rights Project plans to appeal.
Related article:
ABAJournal.com: “After animal activists herald chimp habeas victory, judge amends her order”
