Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New Effort To Grant Legal Rights To Chimpanzees Fails

Posted by timothy on from the what-about-monkeys dept.

sciencehabit writes Advocates of "legal personhood" for chimpanzees have lost another battle. This morning, a New York appellate court rejected a lawsuit by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) to free a chimp named Tommy from captivity. The group had argued that the chimpanzee deserved the human right of bodily liberty. Despite the loss, the NhRP is pursuing more cases in the hopes of conferring legal rights to a variety of animals, from elephants to dolphins.

7 of 341 comments (clear)

  1. Free from captivity... for how long? by DaHat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If freed... wouldn't a stolen bit of food here or there (as presumably it wouldn't be able to grow or buy it's own) or some public defecation get it arrested? If it dared resist arrest might get some additional charges of assault on a police officer and result in some jail time?

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
    1. Re:Free from captivity... for how long? by Aaden42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If it came to that, you’d have to appoint an attorney to stand for the critter’s interests who would argue diminished capacity and no ability for form mens rea.

      So at best, they’re arguing for defining chimps as mentally challenged persons. I think we have enough mentally challenged persons as it is, several of whom can no doubt be found on one end of the ‘versus’ in this court case...

  2. Hail Caesar! by presidenteloco · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Might makes right.

    More seriously, we need a concept that grants considerations, if not equal-to-human rights, to other living beings, and for that matter, ecosystems.

    In short, we need law to evolve toward a 21st century science-based ethical viewpoint.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  3. Human Rights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if they're also in favor of granting those same human rights to actual unborn humans.

  4. Agree with court by devent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Please first demonstrate to me that chimps and other animals value bodily liberty, and only then we can talk to give them the right. I never saw any animal besides people to value liberty over food, water or safety. It doesn't make any sense to give some right to some subject that does not even value it or understand it. We don't even give bodily liberty to some mentally handicapped persons, so why should we give that right to an animal?

    --
    http://www.mueller-public.de - My site http://www.anr-institute.com/ - Advanced Natural Research Institute
  5. Re:"You are not ready." by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    People are resistant to the idea because some of the animals we eat show signs of consciousness and suffering.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  6. Re:good by OrangeTide · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why would you say we don't have time to tackle them all?

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire