Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

US lawsuit demands 'legal personhood' for chimpanzees
The Telegraph ^ | 03 December 2013 | Bonnie Malkin

Posted on 12/03/2013 6:18:58 AM PST by Gamecock

Full Title: Case seeks to designate chimp called Tommy as a 'cognitively complex autonomous legal person'

A US animal rights group has filed what it said is the first lawsuit seeking to establish the "legal personhood" of chimpanzees.

The non-profit Nonhuman Rights Project asked a New York state court to declare a 26-year-old chimp named Tommy "a cognitively complex autonomous legal person with the fundamental legal right not to be imprisoned."

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Tommy's "detention" in a "small, dank, cement cage in a cavernous dark shed" in central New York is unlawful and demands his immediate release to a primate sanctuary.

Chimpanzees "possess complex cognitive abilities that are so strictly protected when they're found in human beings," Steven Wise, the president of Nonhuman Rights Project, told Reuters.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/03/2013 6:18:58 AM PST by Gamecock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

More voters for the Democrats?


2 posted on 12/03/2013 6:21:32 AM PST by LuvFreeRepublic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

If this succeeds, every business will have to add chimpanzee bathrooms. Liberalism is a disease.


3 posted on 12/03/2013 6:22:21 AM PST by Mich Patriot (PITCH BLACK is the new "transparent")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido; F15Eagle

He seems depressed. He’s lost his appetite. He’s even curtailed his autoerotic activities.

We should apologize.


4 posted on 12/03/2013 6:22:24 AM PST by Gamecock (If you like your constitution, you can keep your constitution. Period. (M.S.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock
This isn't about granting "personhood" to an animal.

This is about redefining human beings to be mere animals to be managed and culled like any other beast.

5 posted on 12/03/2013 6:23:29 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock
All jokes aside, I'm of a mixed mind on this. While I'm normally the furthest thing from an animal rights activist, I think there is a rational argument to be made that we should grants limited rights to non-human apes.
6 posted on 12/03/2013 6:26:45 AM PST by Kip Russell (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors -- and miss. ---Robert A. Heinlein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Will they be able to fine the chimp when it craps on the sidewalk?


7 posted on 12/03/2013 6:35:46 AM PST by fruser1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Super. As long as the chimp marries someone in the Obama administration.

The White House is a zoo currently - let’s put an exclamation point on the fact.


8 posted on 12/03/2013 6:38:39 AM PST by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Does that mean the chimp will be able to sign contracts and thus buy a car, a house, go to school and get a job?

Some people sure think and act like chimps!


9 posted on 12/03/2013 6:53:15 AM PST by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Star Traveler

Means they can get 0bama care.


10 posted on 12/03/2013 7:07:55 AM PST by Gamecock (If you like your constitution, you can keep your constitution. Period. (M.S.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

No judge should ever accept silly lawsuits like this. It is a waste of time and money. This is why the courts are so tied up. If judges would do what they should and not accept silliness, things would go smoother.


11 posted on 12/03/2013 7:11:13 AM PST by maxwellsmart_agent (F)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kip Russell

The gay guys will line up to marry them.


12 posted on 12/03/2013 7:20:19 AM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Will he receive food stamps and a free cell phone?


13 posted on 12/03/2013 7:20:59 AM PST by 353FMG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

I have a clever quip about voter registration and Chicago, but it would just get spiked by the mods.


14 posted on 12/03/2013 7:43:23 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Play hid the chocolate banana???


15 posted on 12/03/2013 10:27:40 AM PST by tophat9000 (Are we headed to a Cracker Slacker War?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock; Revolting cat!; JoeProBono; Daffynition; GeronL; Slings and Arrows
Can he vote?


16 posted on 12/03/2013 11:30:03 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

This will be a game changer for Charla Nash wanting to sue the State of Ct after being mauled by the chimp in Stamford.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/conn-women-brutally-attacked-chimpanzee-awaits-decision-50m-case-article-1.1210282


17 posted on 12/03/2013 4:04:48 PM PST by Daffynition (*$17,000,000,000,000* Fear the beards! GO SOX!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson