Today we issued the following media release:

In Tommy and Kiko Chimpanzee Rights Cases, Nonhuman Rights Project To Ask New York’s Highest Court for Permission to Appeal

January 19, 2018—New York, New York—The New York appellate court that last year denied the Nonhuman Rights Project’s habeas corpus petitions on behalf of chimpanzees Tommy and Kiko has denied our motion for permission to appeal its decision to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

“The First Judicial Department decision is disappointing, but no surprise,” said NhRP President and lead attorney Steven M. Wise. “We believe it is unjust to condemn extraordinarily complex—indeed autonomous—beings, such as chimpanzees, to a lifetime of captivity for the sole reason they are not human. We think the Court of Appeals should recognize that New York notions of fundamental justice support our arguments in favor of recognizing chimpanzees’ right to bodily liberty, and we are hopeful we will be given the opportunity to make that case.”

Within the next 30 days, the NhRP will file a motion for permission to appeal with the Court of Appeals itself, urging it to reject the First Judicial Department’s erroneous approach to our common law habeas corpus cases and to engage in the mature weighing of public policy and moral principle these novel and complex legal issues demand. We expect that several amicus curiae briefs will support our motion.

Click here for Tommy’s court case timeline and here for Kiko’s court case timeline, including the Memorandum of Law we filed with the First Judicial Department in support of our motion for permission to appeal.

Media Contacts:

Jennifer Fermino

Fenton Communications

646.734.0320

jfermino@fenton.com

Lauren Choplin

NhRP Communications Director

856.381.9447

lchoplin@nonhumanrights.org