Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. Breheny
The New York Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a habeas petition submitted on behalf of an elephant, which had argued the elephant was a cognitively complex, autonomous being with a common law right to bodily liberty and should be released from a zoo to an animal sanctuary. The court held that animals are not persons with a liberty right that may be secured through habeas corpus, but two justices dissented.
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Habeas and Happy the Elephant
A Bronx Zoo elephant that died last week was made famous in litigation over whether habeas corpus can be used to challenge the confinement of nonhuman animals.