Law Commons^™

A Conspiracy Of Life: A Posthumanist Critique Of Appoaches To Animal Rights In The Law, Barnaby E. Mclaughlin

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Near the end of his life, Jacques Derrida, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, turned his attention from the traditional focus of philosophy, humans and humanity, to an emerging field of philosophical concern, animals. Interestingly, Derrida claimed in an address entitled The Animal That Therefore I Am that,

since I began writing, in fact, I believe I have dedicated [my work] to the question of the living and of the living animal. For me that will always have been the most important and decisive question. I have addressed it a thousand times, either directly or obliquely, …

The Profit And Loss Report On Animal Rights: How Profit Maximization Has Driven The Stagnation Of The Legal Identification Of Animals As Property, Anthony M. Doss

University of Massachusetts Law Review

The concern for the wellbeing and humane treatment of animals continues to grow in the United States. However, while public opinion on how animals should be treated has largely changed, the legal classification for animals has not. Nonhuman animals today, just as in centuries past, keep only a property classification in the law. This classification, which we humans assign to furniture, jewelry, and paper plates, comes with a set of legal rights held exclusively by the owner of the property. These rights bestow upon the owner the abilities to sell, use, and destroy the property as they see fit with …

Adverse Modification Of The Endangered Species Act: Regulatory Impediment Or Tool?, Chuckie Sullivan

University of Massachusetts Law Review

In the past, the agencies charged with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act have shirked invoking the full range of regulatory tools at their disposal. They altered the structure of the Act in violation of Congressionally-granted authority to better accommodate both developmental and conservation interests. After a string of critical judicial decisions, the Services finally changed their implementation of the Act to parallel the protections envisioned by Congress. Though these changes will shift strength between provisions within the Act, they will not drastically alter the status quo by allowing the Services discretion in making judgments regarding the recovery of …