Supreme Court judge rules two chimpanzees have human rights
New York Supreme Court justice Barbara Jaffe ordered that Samuel Stanley Jr., president of the University of Stony Brook in New York, defend why is he keeping two chimps locked up for medical study. She issued a writ of habeus corpus on behalf of the Non-Human Rights Project.
The writ of habeus corpus is a legal order, specifically aimed at giving detainees fair trial, "addressed to the custodian (a prison official for example) and demands that a prisoner be taken before the court, and that the custodian present proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether the custodian has lawful authority to detain the prisoner."
After realizing that she gave human rights to a non-human, she struck habeus corpus from the order but still is enforcing Stanley to defend his right to hold these two chimpanzees.
If Stanley can prove that they don't know they are held captive, he may be able to hold them and continue medical studies. If the Non-Human Rights Campaign can prove that they are aware of their imprisonment and want out, they may be set free.
This is an historic event; even a breif acknowledgement of the sentience of animals other than human is a leap forward in relations of life on earth. Despite habeus corpus being taken off the order, Natalie Prosin, the Nonhuman Rights Project's executive director, acknowledged "we have scientific evidence to prove in a court of law that elephants, great apes, and whales and dolphins are autonomous beings and deserve the right to bodily liberty. [This ruling] strengthens our argument that these nonhuman animals are not property."
The original Supreme Court order can be viewed here.
In this first ordered hearing, the chimpanzees will not be present. Stanley, or his attorny, will argue their case for keeping the chimps locked up. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27 at 10:30 am at the New York County Supreme Court, 80 Centre St., New York, NY 10013 and is open to the public.
I haven't seen any video of Leo and Hercules, the two chimps at Stony Brook, but this video is pretty good evidence that chimps let out of a life of lab testing are pretty happy for their freedom.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/21/8460657/judge-gives-chimpanzees-human-rights-first-time
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/21/8464675/chimps-dont-have-human-rights-judge-says
http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/04/judge-s-ruling-grants-legal-right-research-chimps