LAW-8507 Animal Law
This course examines (1) a series of topics that come under the general headings "animal law"and "animal rights", and more specifically, (2) the extent to which legal systems, specific cases, legislation, and background cultural values have affected, and will continue to affect, the ways in which judges, administrators, politicians, lawyers, law students, legal scholars, and lay people see and speak about animals other than humans. The purpose of the course is not only to learn substantive law in relevant areas(such as property, torts, contract, wills and trusts, constitutional law, and criminal law) but also to understand the background of claims made explicitly in laws and decisions dealing with nonhuman animals. We will thus regularly ask questions such as (l) How well have decision-makers in law seen and/or understood other animals? (2) In what ways do case decisions and legislation reflect values from outside of law regarding nonhuman animals (in other words, what extra-legal sources are relevant to decisions in cases and the framing and interpretation of legislation and administrative regulations)? (3) What are the future prospects for using various parts of the legal system to address the status of nonhuman animals? Students will be graded based on a midterm and final paper.