Animal Law Commons^™

Overseeing The Administrative State, Jill E. Fisch

Seattle University Law Review

In a series of recent cases, the Supreme Court has reduced the regulatory power of the Administrative State. Pending cases offer vehicles for the Court to go still further. Although the Court’s skepticism of administrative agencies may be rooted in Constitutional principles or political expediency, this Article explores another possible explanation—a shift in the nature of agencies and their regulatory role. As Pritchard and Thompson detail in their important book, A History of Securities Law in the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court was initially skeptical of agency power, jeopardizing Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)’s ambitious New Deal plan. The Court’s acceptance …

The Sec, The Supreme Court, And The Administrative State, Paul G. Mahoney

Seattle University Law Review

Pritchard and Thompson have given those of us who study the SEC and the securities laws much food for thought. Their methodological focus is on the internal dynamics of the Court’s deliberations, on which they have done detailed and valuable work. The Court did not, however, operate in a vacuum. Intellectual trends in economics and law over the past century can also help us understand the SEC’s fortunes in the federal courts and make predictions about its future.

A Hard Pill To Swallow: The Abysmal Mental Health Standards Of Detained Immigrant Children In The United States, Rama Bankesly

Seattle University Law Review

After setting foot into the U.S., unaccompanied children must learn to navigate academic and legal systems while receiving little support and carrying the heavy burden of effects of trauma on their mental health. They need access to mental health care from qualified professionals, but as this Comment will explain, they systematically fail to receive care, as can be seen in cases like Doe v. Shenandoah Valley Juv. Ctr. Comm’n. In Shenandoah, an unaccompanied child arrived in the U.S. and was placed in a facility that failed to provide remotely adequate mental health care and in fact was subjected …

Students For Fair Admissions: Affirming Affirmative Action And Shapeshifting Towards Cognitive Diversity?, Steven A. Ramirez

Seattle University Law Review

The Roberts Court holds a well-earned reputation for overturning Supreme Court precedent regardless of the long-standing nature of the case. The Roberts Court knows how to overrule precedent. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), the Court’s majority opinion never intimates that it overrules Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court’s leading opinion permitting race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Instead, the Roberts Court applied Grutter as authoritative to hold certain affirmative action programs entailing racial preferences violative of the Constitution. These programs did not provide an end point, nor did they require assessment, review, periodic expiration, or revision for greater …

Front Matter

Animal Law Review

Front Matter includes Front Matter includes Title Page, Masthead, advisors, and Table of Contents for Animal Law Review Volume 30, Issue 2, 2024.

The 3rs And Non-Human Animals In Biomedical Research: The Next 65 Years, Paul Locke, Richelle Romanchik, Breanne Kincaid, Emily Golden

Animal Law Review

It has been 65 years since the publication of Russell and Burch’s “The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique,” which established the ‘3Rs’—refinement, reduction, and replacement—as the key principles applicable to decision making about, and the use of, non-human animals in laboratory settings. The 3Rs are universally accepted by responsible scientists throughout the world and form the basis for many national legal and regulatory systems governing animal use in laboratories. This Article will discuss broadly how the 3Rs have evolved over the past seven decades since the publication of Russell and Burch’s seminal work, and examine the 3Rs in light of …

Neither Covered Nor Excluded: Impacts Of Speciesism On Aquatic Animal Experimentation Under The Animal Welfare Act, Sophia Pastorini

Animal Law Review

Despite significant scientific evidence affirming their capacity for pain and pleasure, aquatic animals in laboratory settings receive limited federal protection. The Animal Welfare Act leaves aquatic animals entirely adrift; they are neither included in the list of protected animals nor explicitly excluded. They inhabit a realm so marginalized that they are not even mentioned in the Act. The urgency of safeguarding aquatic animal welfare is a matter of moral imperative, scientific integrity, and justice. By employing a multifaceted approach that combines ethical considerations and legal frameworks, this Article seeks to catalyze change in the treatment of aquatic animals in research …

Alchemizing The Bar: An Examination Of Global Ethical Considerations For Using Alternatives To Animals In Research, Testing, And Education, Lenore M. Montanaro

Animal Law Review

Countries regulate scientific research in various ways. Such structures are the result of input from scientists, attorneys, physicians, advocates, and others. These schemes may also derive from outcomes of the research itself. Some countries do not incorporate or require the ethical use of an animal—or an alternative to the use of an animal—to be considered. Others do incorporate, and even require, the ethical use of animals in research. In alignment with The Three Rs—replacement, reduction, and refinement of animals used in science—technological capabilities now allow scientists to increasingly use alternatives, such as microphysiological systems, rather than animal models. This Article …

Animal Sentience Should Be The Key For Future Legislation, Margaret Landi, Lida Anestidou

Animal Law Review

This Article posits that changes in U.S. laws and policies regarding animal experimentation depend on the recognition of animal sentience. Sentience—distinct from cognition and self-awareness—is the ability of an animal to experience pain, pleasure, and other emotions. First, this Article reviews the reasons animals are still used in biomedical research and the relevant characteristics of U.S. law. This is followed by a discussion of sentience and the concepts of cognition and self-awareness, and a discourse on societal interests. The Article concludes with an analysis of six bioethical principles considered central to the future of animal experimentation. Overall, conferring sentience would …

De-Myth-Ifying Laboratory Animal Law: The Truth Behind Four Commonly Misunderstood Facts In Laboratory Animal Welfare Law, Rebecca Critser

Animal Law Review

The subspeciality of laboratory animal law presents unique difficulties because it requires familiarity with two highly specialized fields: law and science. Consequently, it is not surprising that some aspects of laboratory animal law have been misunderstood. This Article highlights four such misunderstandings surrounding laboratory animal law and provides an explanation of the truth behind each myth. The myths discussed include: (1) the AWA is the only federal law applicable to laboratory animals; (2) states are preempted from regulating the laboratory animal space; (3) birds, rats, and mice are not covered under federal law; and (4) the 3Rs are explicitly required …

Fda Modernization Act 2.0: The Beginning Of The End For Animal Testing In Drug Development, Julia Williams

Animal Law Review

Historical drug testing protocols utilized animal testing to determine whether drugs were safe and effective for use in humans. However, recognizing that testing drugs on other species is potentially dangerous for humans, troubled by failures, unnecessarily expensive, and time consuming, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, passed in December 2022, removed animal testing as a requirement for new drug applications. While this was an important step forward, a notable failure of that Act is that it did not go far enough to end animal testing. Accordingly, this Article proposes an FDA Modernization Act 3.0.

The FDA Modernization Act 3.0 would ensure …

Saving Species Or Sacrificing Science?: Navigating The Legal Labyrinth Of Research And Conservation Through The Case Of The Long-Tailed Macaque, Maliat Chowdhury

Animal Law Review

For decades, long-tailed macaques have served an instrumental role in advancing biomedical research. However, due to the recent primate shortage in U.S. laboratories, these macaques have become coveted targets for poachers. In 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) elevated the long-tailed macaque’s threat level from “Vulnerable” to “Endangered,” citing research-related capture as a critical factor contributing to their decline. Under this new status, long-tailed macaques are at risk of being categorized under Appendix I of CITES, a designation that will subject them to stricter trade regulations. Alarmed by the potential obstacles this reclassification may pose to scientific …

Front Matter

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Enrichment For Farmed Animals, Alexandra Schauer

Animal Law Review

Environmental enrichment standards are set in many animal welfare laws, but such protections are generally withheld from farmed animals. Instead, farmed animals are subject to substandard enclosures that are under-stimulating and inappropriate for their species-specific behavioral needs. Scientific studies have shown that the inclusion of environmental enrichment in an animal’s enclosure balances their production of stress hormones, which has beneficial implications for the overall health and wellbeing of the animal. Establishing enclosure standards for farmed animals that include provisions relating to environmental enrichment would improve farmed animal well-being and, subsequently, the health of the humans who consume products deriving from …

Striking A Balance: Why Federal And State Laws Should Be Revised To Effectively Deter Puppy Mills, Kaitlyn Cameron

Animal Law Review

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was passed in 1966 with the purpose of ensuring the humane care and treatment of animals. The AWA delegates licensing responsibilities to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Services (APHIS), who have the authority to investigate violations of the AWA and penalize relevant organizations, such as puppy mills, when necessary. Unfortunately, the AWA sets forth minimum standards for the humane care and treatment of these animals and the USDA has exercised its own discretion in penalizing violations of the AWA. The AWA establishes standards for compliance, but …

A Critical Assessment Of Bill S-203, Ending The Captivity Of Whales And Dolphins Act: Challenging The Exclusivity Of Anthropocentrism And Science-Based Justifications, Rachel De Graaf

Animal Law Review

Bill S-203, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and other Acts (ending the captivity of whales and dolphins) became Canadian law in 2019, banning the captivity of cetaceans. This Article critically examines Bill S-203, arguing that it is underpinned by anthropocentric and science-based justifications that will work as exclusionary forces against many animals in need of legal protection. Instead, the Article advocates for an empathetic and multi-jural approach that accounts for human-animal interconnectedness and the unique cultures of animals. This argument is theoretically rooted in vegan ecofeminism’s empathic and non-binaristic perspective. As such, this Article scrutinizes the reasoning behind …

Time To Free The 'Evidence': Animal Cruelty Prosecutions, Pre-Conviction Forfeiture, And Brady Violations, Gary J. Patronek

Animal Law Review

This Article presents empirical research to investigate the traditional practice of holding seized animal victims of maltreatment in protective custody until their disposition is resolved pursuant to a criminal proceeding. This is of particular concern because protective custody usually entails confinement in an animal shelter or similar institutional setting. Extended confinement under these circumstances is undesirable–especially when dealing with large numbers of animals–because such confinement causes stress that may inadvertently result in secondary victimization of the animals. Furthermore, institutional confinement poses substantial logistical challenges and imposes substantial economic costs for those tasked with caring for the animals. The impetus for …

Exploited: The Unexpected Victims Of Animal Agriculture, Caitlin Kelly

Animal Law Review

Awareness of how nonhuman animals suffer in animal agriculture has been growing for years. But are they the only victims? Selling the products and parts of hundreds of millions of animals in the United States every year requires someone to manage those animals. It requires someone to kill those animals. And it requires someone to dismember those animals long before they ever reach the neat rows of plastic wrapped packaging at the grocery store. To accomplish this process at an industrial scale means hundreds to thousands of animals are together in barns which reek of their waste and create biohazards …

Maurer Environmental Law Expert Is Lead Author On Science Insights Policy Forum Article, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Environmental champions and conservationists will mark the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act later this month. That is the law requiring federal agencies to use all methods necessary to prevent extinctions and ensure that federal actions not jeopardize the continued existence of species on the brink of disappearing from the face of the Earth.

In the leadup to the December 27th anniversary, several publications have begun examining the Act’s history and impact over five decades.

Science, the world’s third-most influential scholarly journal based on Google Scholar citations, invited experts from around the country to look ahead as well …

“I’Ll Have The Fish, Please” – Why Wild, Sustainable Fisheries In The United States Need Permanent Federal Protection, And Fast, Renee Larson

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

No abstract provided.