The Chimp who sued for freedom
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On December 2, 2013, “The Nonhuman Rights Project Inc. on behalf of Tommy,” filed the first Habeas Corpus petition on behalf of a Chimpanzee.
Describing “petitioner’s” solitary confinement “in a small, dank, cement cage in a cavernous dark shed,” and supported by series of nine affidavits gathered from leading primatologists around the world, The Nonhuman Rights Project argues that “personhood” in the common law extends to non-humans like Tommy.
Free Lunch will be served.
About the Speaker:
Steven M. Wise is President of the Nonhuman Rights Project
He holds a J.D. from Boston University Law School and has practiced animal protection law for 30 years throughout the United States.
Steven teaches “Animal Rights Jurisprudence” at the Vermont, Lewis and Clark, University of Miami, and St. Thomas Law Schools, and has taught “Animal Rights Law” at the Harvard Law School and John Marshall Law School.
He is the author of four books:
* Rattling the Cage – Toward Legal Rights for Animals (2000),
* Drawing the Line – Science and the Case for Animal Rights (2003),
* Though the Heavens May Fall – The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery (2005), and
* An American Trilogy – Death, Slavery, and Dominion Along the Banks of the Cape Fear River (2009).
He is also working on a fifth, which will be a memoir about the Nonhuman Rights Project.
He has authored numerous law review, encyclopedia, and popular articles. His work for the legal rights of nonhuman animals was highlighted on Dateline NBC and was the subject of the documentary, A Legal Person.
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