This is not a trick question: Is a chimpanzee a person? If you asked the average human being that question, you’d probably get a quick “no.” In the eyes of the law, however, that’s still an open question.
Last week, a New York Supreme Court judge submitted a court order that appeared to give two research chimpanzees the writ of habeas corpus—the right to challenge unlawful detainment. Previously, habeas corpus has been extended only to legal persons, so experts speculated that the order implicitly acknowledged the chimps, named Hercules and Leo, as legal persons. But the very next day, the judge amended the order. In the document, she scribbled over the words “writ of habeas corpus,” apparently to sidestep any speculation about the chimps’ personhood status. The next court date is set for May 27; then, Stony Brook University, where Hercules and Leo are being held, will have to present a legal argument for why they are detaining the chimps.
via Pacific Standard
