Posted on 10/30/2025 7:49:46 AM PDT by Red Badger
Chimpanzees are not “persons” capable of being “imprisoned” for purposes of habeas corpus.
It’s not every day a court is asked whether chimpanzees have constitutional rights just like people do, but that was the novel question before a three-judge panel of the Michigan state court of appeals earlier this month.
The answer, of course, was no. Chimpanzees are not “persons” in the eyes of the law, the appellate court held, denying the petition for habeas corpus filed on behalf of seven chimps by the Nonhuman Rights Project, an advocacy group dedicated to securing legal rights for “nonhuman animals.”
In fact, this wasn’t the first time the organization tried to get primates out of prison, i.e., the zoo. Professor Jacobson wrote about a similar claim they filed in New York state over ten years ago here. They lost, for the same obvious reason: chimpanzees aren’t “persons” entitled to habeas corpus relief for false imprisonment.
That didn’t stop the animal rights zealots from trying again, this time seeking to free the chimps held captive at the roadside DeYoung Family Zoo in Michigan. In December 2023, the Michigan circuit court summarily denied their request without holding a hearing, presumably because it didn’t need to. Again, the alleged “prisoner” chimpanzees were not “persons” eligible for habeas relief, Judge Mary Barglind stated on the court’s order form. The Nonhuman Rights Project appealed.
Writing on behalf of the appellate court, Judge Matthew Ackerman traces the origins of the habeas remedy back to English common law to affirm the trial court’s decision.
Chimpanzees are animals, and the law regards animals as property, the judge concluded—no doubt to the chagrin of the Nonhuman Rights Project.
Man’s dominion over beast is rooted in the creation narrative, the esteemed jurist Sir William Blackstone explained over 200 years ago:
In the beginning of the world, we are informed by holy writ, the all-bountiful Creator gave to man ‘dominion over all the earth; and over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.’ . . . The earth, therefore, and all things therein, are the general property of all mankind, exclusive of other beings, from the immediate gift of the Creator.
“No exception exists for ‘intelligent’ animals, which in any event has no natural stopping point,” Judge Ackerman added.
This is not the animals-are-people-too result the Nonhuman Rights Project was hoping for, and they say they will appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.
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That it went to court is itself an obscene joke.
Should have been dismissed out of the gate as lacking standing or frivolous.
Nonsense. They are using the premise of their representation of the animals in order to elevate their power and degrade the rights of other humans, particularly property rights.
“filed on behalf of seven chimps by the Nonhuman Rights Project”
Who is funding these idiots?
“Should have been dismissed out of the gate as lacking standing or frivolous.” Or just plain retarded.
Dr Cornelius is disappointed.
General Ursus threatens war!
Well, since you asked…
With rights come responsibilities. Tell me, what things are the chimpanzees responsible for?
They will just end up on a sofa watching TV and buying food with SNAP like all the others.
With rights come responsibilities. Tell me, what things are the chimpanzees responsible for?
Until attorneys who file these crap cases are disbarred, the insanity will continue.
The 29th scroll, 6th verse was very clear. Apes never listen.
But I thought the Dipstick Feral Courts warded ALL CHIMPANZEEs with “due process” because of ICE shipping their butts home.
“ With rights come responsibilities. Tell me, what things are the chimpanzees responsible for?”
I would say flinging poop but Adam Schiff is responsible for that.
I used to feel sorry for such chimps. Thanks, Jane Goodall.
Then I listened to some zoology experts about how animalistic and sadistic these creatures can be. They are not as human-like as most people are deluded into thinking they are.
The horrific story of Charla Nash, who was viciously dismantled by a “beloved pet chimp” without warning should be instructive.
They belong in cages while captive.
I bet this was a backhanded way to get illegal immigrants covered by the US Constitution so they could demand “due process”.
Poo flinging.......................
The lawyer pleading the monkey’s case should be disbarred.
Pay him in bananas.................
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