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Elephant Habeas: New York’s High Court Rejects “Elephants Are Persons” Nonsense
Let me stipulate at the beginning that elephants are magnificent animals who have been treated badly by us human beings for a long time. We have hunted them for ivory, reduced their habitat, and mistreated them in captivity in the circus and in some zoos. I say some zoos because Happy, the elephant at the……
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Case of the Day: Community of Hippopotamuses v. Ministerio de Ambiente
A federal court grants an ex parte 1782 application brought by … some of Pablo Escobar’s Colombian hippopotamuses. Continue Reading Case of the Day: Community of Hippopotamuses v. Ministerio de Ambiente
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Happy’s Hapless Helpers
In a short decision, a New York appellate court affirmed the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus brought by Steven Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project on behalf of Happy the Elephant. This was no surprise, particularly because the same court had reached the same decision in a case brought by……
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Judge Dismisses Elephant Habeas Petition
As everyone but Steven Wise and the Nonhuman Rights Project expected, a judge in the Bronx dismissed a habeas corpus petition brought on behalf of Happy the Elephant on the grounds that an elephant is not a person with standing to invoke the writ. Before turning to the decision, I’d like to set the stage……
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Elephant Habeas Case: Connecticut Appellate Court Holds Elephants Are Not Persons
It will surprise no one except Steven Wise that in today’s case, Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. R.W. Commerford & Sons, Inc. (Conn. App. Ct. 2019), the court affirmed dismissal of a habeas corpus petition brought on behalf of three elephants in a zoo on jurisdictional grounds, as the elephants are not persons with standing……