Bronx Zoo elephant “Happy” strolls inside the zoo’s Asia Habitat in New York. A legal fight to release Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo after 45 years was argued Wednesday, May 18, before New York’s highest court in a closely watched case over whether a basic right for people can be extended to an animal. Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP
We note that Chief Judge Janet DiFiore announced on July 11, 2022 that she will be stepping down as of Aug. 31, 2022. She has served admirably for the past six years and has managed the court and the court system in New York extremely effectively during remarkably difficult circumstances. While we wish her well in her future endeavors, we recognize that this is a tremendous loss to the New York state judiciary and the New York state court system.
The Court of Appeals ruled last month that an elephant is not entitled to bring a habeas corpus petition with respect to her confinement at the Bronx Zoo. In Matter of Nonhuman Rights Project v. Breheny, a five-judge majority lead by the Chief Judge determined that writs of habeas corpus only protect the liberty rights of human beings and are not available to animals regardless of their respective level of functional intelligence. Judges Wilson and Rivera each submitted a dissent in which they argue that autonomous beings with substantial cognitive abilities such as the elephant at issue in this case are entitled to the protections that the writ has historically provided.
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