Habeas corpus, for chimps?

Cody Olsen Jul 4, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Habeas corpus, for chimps?</h1>
                <h2><p>For the first time in history a New York court will decide whether two chimps have legal rights under habeas corpus. The chimps, Hercules and Leo, are currently at Stony Brook University, being used for "biomedical experimentation" according to the Nonhuman Rights Project, which filed the lawsuit. My</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/cody-olsen-crosscut-com/">Cody Olsen</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>For the first time in history a New York court will decide whether two chimps have legal rights under habeas corpus. The chimps, Hercules and Leo, are currently at Stony Brook University, being used for "biomedical experimentation" according to the <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/2015/04/20/judge-recognizes-two-chimpanzees-as-legal-persons-grants-them-writ-of-habeas-corpus/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Nonhuman Rights Project</a>, which filed the lawsuit. <a href="http://mynorthwest.com/813/2758112/Dave-Ross-Is-America-ready-for-Chimpanzee-rights-?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">My Northwest reports</a> that on May 27th, a lawyer representing the school will have to provide a legally sufficient reason for detaining the chimps. Nonhuman Rights Project believes they are too intelligent to be held in captivity and should be transferred to Save the Chimps sanctuary in Florida.</p>
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For the first time in history a New York court will decide whether two chimps have legal rights under habeas corpus. The chimps, Hercules and Leo, are currently at Stony Brook University, being used for "biomedical experimentation" according to the Nonhuman Rights Project, which filed the lawsuit. My Northwest reports that on May 27th, a lawyer representing the school will have to provide a legally sufficient reason for detaining the chimps. Nonhuman Rights Project believes they are too intelligent to be held in captivity and should be transferred to Save the Chimps sanctuary in Florida.

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By Cody Olsen

Cody Olsen was an editorial intern with Crosscut. He has a degree in Political Science from WWU, a passion for Journalism and a love for making movies on the side. This past summer he spent a few mont