Should Chimps Have Human Rights?

A legal battle is unfolding in a New York court that seeks to determine whether a pair of chimpanzees named Leo and Hercules, currently at the research lab of Stony Brook University, should be granted human rights.

The lawsuit advocating for the chimpanzees' rights under the U.S. Constitution was filed by lawyers from an animal rights organization called Nonhuman Rights Project. The plaintiffs are demanding recognition of the chimpanzees' right to 'habeas corpus' and are pushing for their release from captivity at the university, to be relocated to an animal sanctuary.

The lawyers' case is built on the argument that from an evolutionary perspective, intelligent primates like chimpanzees deserve rights because they are not fundamentally different from humans. Previous lawsuits involving other primates have been rejected, but the lawyers argue there are significant flaws in the judges' reasoning. In one instance, judges contended that the lawsuit was irrelevant because the chimpanzees would be moved from one captivity to another, and wouldn't truly be free—yet mentally ill prisoners are often released for forced hospitalization, and minors are placed in custodians' care. In a second lawsuit, judges decided that primates aren't entitled to constitutional protection because they don't 'fulfill societal duties'. Under this reasoning, the lawyers for Leo and Hercules argue, legal status would also need to be denied to children and mentally impaired individuals.

The animal rights organization argued in court that the basis for legal status should not be human species membership but autonomy. "Chimpanzees are autonomous beings who make decisions for themselves and aren't controlled by instinct," said their lawyer, Steven Wise, in court. "They are self-aware, have a language, understand mathematics, and possess social culture. They remember the past and plan for the future." In humans, the lawyer noted, such traits are the foundation for the right to liberty—and it should be the same for chimpanzees.

The decision on the case will be announced later this summer. If the lawsuit is successful and Leo and Hercules are freed, the plaintiffs plan to file many more lawsuits on behalf of chimpanzees, monkeys, and elephants held in various locations across the United States.