N.Y. Judge Grants
Legal Rights To 2 Research Chimps
Star enjoys a
moment in the sun at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Keithville, La. Brandon
Wade/AP Images for The Humane Society of the United States and Chimp Haven
April 21, 201510:41 AM ET
Krishnadev Calamur
Update at 1:21 p.m. ET, Wednesday:
The judge in the case has amended her ruling to strike
out the term "writ of habeas corpus." It is now unclear whether
Hercules and Leo, the chimps at Stony Brook University, can challenge their
detention. You can read our post about the amended order here.
Our original post continues:
A New York judge has granted two
research chimps the writ of habeas corpus — a move that allows them to challenge their detention.
The decision, says Science magazine, effectively recognizes chimps as
legal persons, marking the first time in U.S. history that an animal has been
given that right.
The order, dated April 20, requires Stony Brook
University to appear in court and provide a legally sufficient reason for
keeping the two chimps, Hercules and Leo. A hearing is scheduled for May 6.
The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), the group that filed
the case on behalf of the chimps, said in a statement it believed that
Manhattan Supreme
Court Justice Barbara Jaffe's
order "implicitly determined that Hercules and Leo are 'persons.' "
But Richard Cupp, a law professor at Pepperdine
University who opposes personhood for animals, told Science, "It
would be quite surprising if the judge intended to make a momentous substantive
finding that chimpanzees are legal persons if the judge has not yet heard the
other side's arguments."
The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a suit on behalf of the
two chimps in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County in December 2013, but that
court refused to issue a writ of habeas corpus, and its appellate division
dismissed the suit. The group appealed to the New York
County Supreme Court in Manhattan, which ruled Monday in the case.
As we have previously reported,
New York courts declined to extend habeas corpus to two other chimps, Tommy and
Kiko. The Nonhuman
Rights Project has appealed those decisions. Here's more background from Science:
"The case began as a salvo of lawsuits
filed by NhRP in December of 2013. The group claimed that four New York
chimpanzees — Hercules and Leo at Stony Brook, and two others on private
property — were too cognitively and emotionally complex to be held in captivity
and should be relocated to an established chimpanzee sanctuary. NhRP petitioned
three lower court judges with a writ of habeas corpus, which is traditionally
used to prevent people from being unlawfully imprisoned. By granting the writ,
the judges would have implicitly acknowledged that chimpanzees were legal
people too — a first step in freeing them.
"The judges quickly struck down each case, however,
and NhRP has been appealing ever since. Today's decision is the group's first
major victory."
Member station WAMU's Diane Rehm Show devoted a
show last year to legal rights for animals. You can listen to that show here.
Let’s connect the dots:
Science
Rush
Holt is the publisher for Science,
a member of the Cosmos Club, the CEO
for the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and a trustee at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Note: Science is a
publication for the American Association
for the Advancement of Science.
Charles M. Vest was
a fellow at the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, and a trustee at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Nicholas Rostow
is a member of the Cosmos Club, and
was the vice chancellor & chief counsel for the State University of New York.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Larry Pressler
is a member of the Cosmos Club, and
an Oxford University Rhodes scholar.
Ruth
Padel is an Oxford University professor,
and Charles Darwin’s
great-great-granddaughter.
Chester A. Crocker
is a member of the Cosmos Club, and
a professor at Georgetown University.
Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding was a center
at Georgetown University.
Madeleine K.
Albright is a professor at Georgetown
University, a co-chairman for the Albright
Stonebridge Group, a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and was a director at the Center for a New American Security.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the Human Rights First, the
Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, his divorce
lawyer was William D. Zabel, is the founder
& chairman for the Open Society
Foundations, and a friend of Michael
Douglas.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Human
Rights First, and the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
William D. Zabel
is the chair for the Human Rights First,
and was George Soros’s divorce
lawyer.
Richard R. Verma
was a director at the Human Rights First,
a counselor for the Albright Stonebridge
Group, and an advisory board member for the Center for a New American Security.
Gail
Furman is a director at the Human
Rights First, and a director at the Eleanor
Roosevelt Legacy Committee.
Marsha Z. Laufer
was a director at the Eleanor Roosevelt
Legacy Committee, a professor at the Stony
Brook University, and married to Henry
B. Laufer.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Henry B. Laufer
is married to Marsha Z. Laufer, and
was a professor at the Stony Brook
University.
Samuel L.
Stanley Jr. is the president of the Stony
Brook University, and was a director at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
James P. Clements
was a director at the Association of
Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
Robert L. Caret
is the chairman-elect for the Association
of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
Michael V. Drake
is a director at the Association of
Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
M. Peter McPherson
is the president of the Association of
Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
Teresa A.
Sullivan is the chairman for the Association
of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum.
Roger W.
Ferguson Jr. is a member of the Business-Higher
Education Forum, and was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Andrew Carnegie
was the founder of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the founder of the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Rush
Holt is a trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science, a member of the Cosmos Club, the CEO for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and the publisher for Science.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Donald Kennedy
was the editor-in-chief for Science,
and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank).
Shirley M. Tilghman
is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank), and a trustee at the King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology.
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Michael Douglas
is a director at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), and a friend of George Soros.
Richard G. Lugar
is a director at
the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think
tank), and was an Oxford University
Rhodes scholar.
Ruth
Padel is an Oxford University professor,
and Charles Darwin’s
great-great-granddaughter.
Larry Pressler was
an Oxford University Rhodes scholar,
and is a member of the Cosmos Club.
Nicholas Rostow
is a member of the Cosmos Club, and
was the vice chancellor & chief counsel for the State University of New York.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank),
a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was the
president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank),
an Oxford University Rhodes scholar,
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a
2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United States in war)
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a senior
counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a president
emeritus at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for the State University of New York, Saudi Arabia, and is the lobby firm for
the United Arab Emirates.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Abdulaziz
bin Abdullah was the deputy minister of foreign affairs for Saudi Arabia, a trustee at the King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology, and Abdallah Bin Abd
Al-Aziz Al Saud’s son.
Charles M. Vest
was a trustee at the King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology, and a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Abdallah
Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud was Abdulaziz
bin Abdullah’s son, the Saudi Arabia
king, and Alwaleed bin Talal’s
uncle.
Alwaleed bin
Talal is Abdallah Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al
Saud’s nephew, and a benefactor for the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding was a center
at Georgetown University.
Chester A. Crocker
is a professor at Georgetown University,
and a member of the Cosmos Club.
Rush
Holt is the publisher for Science,
a member of the Cosmos Club, the CEO
for the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and a trustee at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
John G. Roberts
Jr. is an honorary member of the Robert
Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), the chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution, and the chief
justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.
National Zoo is
a member of the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Museum of Natural History is a
member of the Smithsonian Institution.
Darwin Exhibition Opens at Smithsonian’s National Museum
of Natural History
September 10, 2009
The National Museum of Natural History will open a new exhibition, “Since Darwin: The Evolution
of Evolution,” Sept. 12 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his
groundbreaking “On the Origin of Species.” The exhibition will be on view
through July 18, 2010. A team of museum scientists from the departments of
Botany, Entomology, Mineral Sciences, Paleobiology and Vertebrate Zoology
collaborated on the exhibition.
Charles Darwin
is the father of Evolution, and Ruth Padel’s great-great-grandfather.
Ruth
Padel is Charles Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter,
and a professor at Oxford University.
William J. Clinton
was an Oxford University Rhodes
scholar, an adviser at the Yucaipa
Companies, and is the chairman emeritus for the National Constitution Center.
Mohammed
bin Rashid al-Maktoum is an investor in the Yucaipa Companies, and the prime minister & VP for the United Arab Emirates.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the United Arab Emirates, was lobby firm
for the Saudi Arabia, and the State University of New York.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Sandra Day
O'Connor is a trustee at the National
Constitution Center, was a board member for the National Museum of Natural History, and an associate justice for
the U.S. Supreme Court.
National
Museum of Natural History is a member of the Smithsonian Institution.
David M.
Rubenstein is a board member for the National
Museum of Natural History, and a regent at the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Museum of American History is a member of the Smithsonian Institution.
Marcia K. McNutt
was a board member for the National
Museum of American History, the editor-in-chief for Science, and is the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Shirley M. Malcom
is the head of education & resources for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was an honorary
trustee at the American Museum of
Natural History.
A Review of the New Darwin Exhibition at the American
Museum of Natural History
by Gordon Franz and Mark Looy
on January 24, 2006
Charles Darwin
is the father of Evolution, and Ruth Padel’s great-great-grandfather.
Ruth
Padel is Charles Darwin’s
great-great-granddaughter, and a professor at Oxford University.
Mortimer D.
Sackler was a benefactor for the American
Museum of Natural History, and a benefactor for Oxford University.
Byron R. White was
an Oxford University Rhodes scholar,
and a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.
David Hackett
Souter was an Oxford University
Rhodes scholar, and a justice for the U.S.
Supreme Court.
John Marshall
Harlan II was an Oxford University
Rhodes scholar, and a justice for the U.S.
Supreme Court.
John G. Roberts
Jr. is the chief justice for the U.S.
Supreme Court, the chancellor for the Smithsonian
Institution, and an honorary member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA).
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a president
emeritus at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), an
honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for the State University of New York, Saudi Arabia, and is the lobby firm for
the United Arab Emirates.
Stony
Brook University is a State
University of New York University.
Nicholas Rostow
was the vice chancellor & chief counsel for the State University of New York, and is a member of the Cosmos Club.
Larry Pressler
and is a member of the Cosmos Club,
and was an Oxford University Rhodes
scholar.
Ruth
Padel is an Oxford University professor,
and Charles Darwin’s
great-great-granddaughter.
Chester A. Crocker
is a member of the Cosmos Club, and
a professor at Georgetown University.
Prince
Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding was a center
at Georgetown University.
Chester A. Crocker
is a professor at Georgetown University,
and a member of the Cosmos Club.
Rush
Holt is the publisher for Science,
a member of the Cosmos Club, the CEO
for the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and a trustee at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
John G. Roberts
Jr. is an honorary member of the Robert
Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), the chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution, and the chief
justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.
National Zoo is
a member of the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Museum of Natural History is a member of the Smithsonian Institution.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled:
No Intelligence Allowed is a 2008 documentary film
directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring Ben Stein.[2][3]
The film contends that the mainstream science establishment suppresses academics who believe
they see evidence of intelligent design (ID) in nature and who
criticize evidence supporting Darwinian
evolution and the modern evolutionary synthesis as part of a
"scientific conspiracy to keep God
out of the nation's laboratories and classrooms."[4][5]
The scientific theory of evolution is portrayed by
the film as contributing to communism, fascism, atheism, eugenics and, in particular, Nazi
atrocities in the Holocaust.[6][7]
The film portrays intelligent design as motivated by science,
rather than religion,
though it does not give a detailed definition of the phrase or attempt to
explain it on a scientific level. Other than briefly addressing issues of irreducible complexity, Expelled
examines it as a political issue.[6][8][9]
Expelled opened in 1,052 movie theaters,
more than any other documentary before it, and grossed over $2,900,000 in its
first weekend.[10]
It earned $7.7 million, making it the 27th highest-grossing documentary film in
the United States
(statistics include 1982–present, and are not adjusted for inflation).[10]
The general media response to
the film has been largely negative. Multiple reviews, including those of USA Today
and Scientific American, have described the
film as propaganda.[7][11][12]
The Chicago Tribune's rating was "1 star
(poor),"[13]
while The New York Times described it as "a
conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry" and "an
unprincipled propaganda piece that insults believers and nonbelievers
alike."[7]
It received a 9% meta-score ("rotten") in late May 2008 from the film
review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes
(later improved to 11% overall) where the film was summarized thus: "Full
of patronizing, poorly structured arguments, Expelled is a cynical
political stunt in the guise of a documentary."[14]
Christianity Today gave the film a positive
review, earning a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.[15]
The American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) describes the film as dishonest and divisive propaganda,
aimed at introducing religious ideas into public school science classrooms.[16]
Paul Kurtz,
founder and late chairman of the Center for Inquiry, called the film
“anti-science propaganda” and an “exercise in anti-intellectualism at its
worst.”[17]
The film has been used in private screenings to legislators as part of the Discovery Institute
intelligent design campaign for Academic Freedom bills.
The
"Expelled"
Richard
Sternberg
Main article: Sternberg peer review controversy
Expelled features excerpts from an interview Stein conducted with
Richard Sternberg, described as an evolutionary biologist (he has two Ph.Ds: biology
(molecular evolution) and systems science
(theoretical biology))[41][42]
and a former editor for a scientific journal associated with the Smithsonian Institution. The film says his life was "nearly ruined"
after he published an article by intelligent design proponent Stephen C. Meyer
in 2004, allegedly causing him to lose his office, to be pressured to resign,
and to become the subject of an investigation into his political and religious
views. Sternberg defended his decision, stating that intelligent design was not
the overall subject of the paper (being mentioned only at the end) and that he
was attempting merely to present questions ID proponents had raised as a topic
for discussion. He presented himself and Meyer as targets of religious and political
persecution, claiming the chairman of his department referred to him as an
"intellectual terrorist." Stein states that the paper "ignited a
firestorm of controversy merely because it suggested intelligent design might
be able to explain how life began," and goes beyond the findings of the United States Office of Special
Counsel to claim that Sternberg was "terrorized."[28][41][43]
Stein further alleges that U.S. Representative Mark Souder
uncovered a campaign by the Smithsonian and the NCSE to destroy Sternberg's
credibility, though he does not provide any details.
Sternberg, a staff scientist
for the National Center for Biotechnology
Information and also a fellow of the intelligent design advocacy
group International
Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID), had
resigned his position at the journal Proceedings of the Biological Society
of Washington six months before publication of the Meyers paper. The
Council of the Biological Society of Washington has
stated that "Contrary to typical editorial practices, the paper was
published without review by any associate editor; Sternberg handled the entire
review process."[44]
Although in the film Stein says the paper "suggested intelligent design
might be able to explain how life began," it discussed the much later
development of phyla
during the Cambrian explosion and deviated from the
journal's topic of systematics to introduce previously discredited claims about bioinformatics.
The Society subsequently declared that the paper "does not meet the
scientific standards of the Proceedings" and would not have been
published had typical editorial practices been followed.[43][44]
Sternberg, contrary to the impression given by the film, was not an employee,
but an unpaid Research Associate at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, a post which ran for a limited period. Also contrary to
the way his career was depicted in the film, Sternberg still retained this
position until 2007, when he was given the offer of continuing as a Research
Collaborator.[28][42]
He continued to have full access to research facilities at the museum as of
April 2008.
Science
is a publication for the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
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