NY Judge Issues Legal Rights To 2 Chimps, Grants Them Writ of Habeas Corpus

Do chimpanzees have the same rights as humans? A decision from Judge Barbara Jaffe from the New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan has effectively, according to Science Magazine, recognized chimps as legal persons. The order will require Stony Brook University to appear in court on May 6 and provide a legally sufficient reason for keeping two research chimps, named Hercules and Leo. Judge Jaffe granted the chimps the writ of habeas corpus. This is the first time in U.S. history that an animal has been given that right, thus allowing them to challenge their captivity, says NPR.

The Nonhuman Rights Project had filed a suit on behalf of two chimps in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County in December 2013, but that court refused to issue a writ of habeas corpus, and dismissed the suit. The NhRP followed suit by appealing to the New York County Supreme Court in Manhattan. Now, with this decision, the group says that Judge Jaffe "implicitly determined that Hercules and Leo are 'persons'"

Pepperdine University law professor Richard Cupp disagrees, however. Cupp opposes personhood for animals, and told Science, "It would be quite surprising if the judge intended to make a momentous substantive finding that chimpanzees are legal persons if the judge has not yet heard the other side's arguments."

Previous cases in the United States have failed to produce such a result, but in December, animal rights activists helped an Argentinian orangutan win her case. The orangutan was thus was moved from a zoo to a sanctuary, according to the Washington Post. The NY case hasn't reached this point yet. The judge hasn't ruled yet that the two chimps need to be released.