The Elephant in the Courtroom | The New Yorker
newyorker.com · 11,532 words · saved by 1 readers
A curious legal crusade to redefine personhood is raising profound questions about the interdependence of the animal and human kingdoms.
Save this story Save this story According to the civil-law code of the state of New York, a writ of habeas corpus may be obtained by any “person” who has been illegally detained. In Bronx County, most such claims arrive on behalf of prisoners on Rikers Island. Habeas petitions are not often heard in court, which was only one reason that the case before New York Supreme Court Justice Alison Y. Tuitt—Nonhuman Rights Project v. James Breheny, et al.—was extraordinary. The subject of the petition was Happy, an Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo. American law treats all animals as “things”—the same ca
related reading
- Do Elephants Have Souls? - The New Atlantisthenewatlantis.com
- The Animals Issuefaculty.philosophy.umd.edu
- An Animal's Place - Michael Pollanmichaelpollan.com
- An ant is drowning: here’s how to decide if you should save itaeon.co
- Orangutan granted controlled freedom by Argentine court | CNNedition.cnn.com
- What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?davidgraeber.org
- Eating Meat and Eating Peopler.jordan.im
- Shooting an Elephant | The Orwell Foundationorwellfoundation.com
- Emotional support animals may be a thing, but seven tigers? Sorry, this fad has gone far enough | Elle Hunt | The Guardiantheguardian.com
- Great ape personhood - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- The Strange and Secret Ways That Animals Perceive the World | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
- How To Be Good | The New Yorkernewyorker.com