In 2008, at the first Section on Animal Law panel, panelists debated "Animals as Legal Persons.” In 2016, we move beyond that debate to discuss strategies for securing legal rights for animals. As the cases filed on behalf of chimpanzees Tommy, Kiko, Hercules, and Leo demanding the right to bodily integrity via a writ of habeas corpus are appealed to New York’s highest court, this round table discussion will focus on a variety of questions designed to illuminate how legal rights for animals might best be achieved. For example, what can the animal rights movement learn from other social movements seeking racial equality, rights for women, LGBT individuals, indigenous peoples, and individuals with disabilities? What legal approaches are available to animal advocates, and how effective are they? Are legal approaches that argue within the property paradigm or that focus on individual animal communities as gateway groups effective in achieving rights for all animals? Given the current state of the law, are non-legal strategies needed to change cultural attitudes first? These and other questions will be debated by a panel of animal law and other experts as they move from why to how.
Papers will be published in Animal Law Review.
Business meeting at program conclusion.