SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK __________________________________________________ In the Matter of a Proceeding under Article 70 of the CPLR for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, THE NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC., on behalf of KIKO, MEMORANDUM OF Petitioner, LAW IN SUPPORT OF -against- PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS CARMEN PRESTI, individually and as an officer and director of The Primate Sanctuary, Inc., CHRISTIE E. Index No. PRESTI, individually and as an officer and director of The Primate Sanctuary, Inc., and THE PRIMATE SANCTUARY, INC., Respondents. __________________________________________________ Elizabeth Stein, Esq. Attorney for Petitioner 5 Dunhill Road New Hyde Park, NY 11040 Phone (516) 747-4726 Steven M. Wise, Esq. Attorney for Petitioner 5195 NW 112th Terrace Coral Springs, FL 33076 Phone (954) 648-9864 Elizabeth Stein, Esq. Steven M. Wise, Esq. Subject to pro hac vice admission January_____, 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................................ v I. SUMMARY OF NEW GROUNDS AND FACTS NEITHER PRESENTED NOR DETERMINED IN NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC., EX REL. KIKO v. PRESTI OR NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT, INC. ON BEHALF OF TOMMY v. LAVERY. ............................................................................................................. 1 II. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY .................................................... 6 III. STATEMENT OF FACTS ............................................................................................ 11 A. CHIMPANZEE AUTONOMY ............................................................................... 11 1. INTRODUCTION. ............................................................................................ 11 2. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHIMPANZEES AND HUMANS: PHYSIOLOGY, DNA, AND COGNITION ..................................................... 12 3. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHIMPANZEES AND HUMANS: BEHAVIOR, MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL PROCESSES ........................... 13 a. Self-recognition and self-awareness ............................................................. 14 b. Self-control and episodic memory ................................................................ 14 c. Language, communication, and intention ..................................................... 16 d. Imagination and humor ................................................................................. 19 e. Theory of mind ............................................................................................. 20 f. Empathy ......................................................................................................... 21 g. Awareness of death ....................................................................................... 22 h. Tool-making and chimpanzee culture .......................................................... 22 i. Imitation and emulation ................................................................................. 24 4. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHIMPANZEES AND HUMANS: NUMEROSITY, SEQUENTIAL LEARNING AND MEMORY .................... 26 i B. CHIMPANZEES SHOULDER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES BOTH WITHIN CHIMPANZEE SOCIETIES AND WITHIN CHIMPANZEE/HUMAN SOCIETIES. ................................................................. 27 1. INTRODUCTION. ............................................................................................. 27 2. CHIMPANZEES ROUTINELY SHOULDER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN WILD CHIMPANZEE SOCIETIES. ............ 29 a. Familial duties and responsibilities ............................................................... 29 1) Maternal duties ................................................................................. 29 2) Paternal duties .................................................................................. 30 3) Sibling duties .................................................................................... 31 b. Duties beyond kinship: adoption ................................................................. 32 c. Cooperation and group belonging: solidarity in between-group contexts ........................................................................................................ 33 d. Social dynamics: male hierarchy ................................................................. 35 e. Lawful and rule-governed/policing within chimpanzee societies ............... 36 f. Cooperation and group belonging: within-group solidarity ......................... 37 1) Help and tending of injured or vulnerable group members .............. 37 2) Food sharing and hunting duties ...................................................... 38 3) Informing group members about danger .......................................... 41 4) Death-related duties .......................................................................... 42 3. CHIMPANZEES SHOULDER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN CAPTIVE CHIMPANZEE SOCIETIES. .......................................... 43 4. CHIMPANZEES SHOULDER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN CHIMPANZEE/HUMAN SOCIETIES ............................................. 44 a. Promise-keeping and fair exchanges in chimpanzee/human societies ........................................................................................................ 44 b. Duties and responsibilities in interactions with humans ............................. 45 ii c. Language-trained chimpanzees exhibit an enhanced ability to shoulder duties and responsibilities ............................................................ 48 1) Chores ............................................................................................... 48 2) Moral behavior ................................................................................. 49 3) Other “human-like” duties ................................................................ 52 C. NATIONAL INSTITUTION OF HEALTH STUDIES AND SAVE THE CHIMPS. ................................................................................................................. 60 IV. ARGUMENT ................................................................................................................. 62 A. THE NhRP HAS STANDING TO BRING THIS HABEAS CORPUS PETITION ............................................................................................................... 62 B. VENUE IS PROPER IN NEW YORK COUNTY ................................................... 63 C. NEITHER RES JUDICATA, COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL, NOR CPLR 7003(b) BARS THE ISSUANCE OF AN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE IN THIS SECOND KIKO PETITION .................................................................... 65 D. A PERSON ILLEGALLY IMPRISONED IN NEW YORK IS ENTITLED TO A COMMON LAW WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS .................. 68 1. “Person” is not a synonym for “human being,” but designates an entity with the capacity for legal rights. ........................................................................ 69 2. The Third Department’s Lavery decision does not bind this Court .................... 73 3. Lavery was wrongly decided .............................................................................. 74 a. The ability to shoulder duties and responsibilities is not, and has never been, necessary for legal personhood, especially for the purpose of a common law writ of habeas corpus ........................................ 74 b. The Third Department exceeded its authority by taking judicial notice, without notice to the parties, that chimpanzees lack the capacity to shoulder duties and responsibilities. .......................................... 85 c. If the capacity to shoulder duties and responsibilities is required for personhood, the NhRP has demonstrated that Kiko possesses that capacity. ................................................................................................ 88 iii 4. As common law natural persons are presumed free, Respondents must prove they are not unlawfully imprisoning Kiko ................................................ 88 5. Because Kiko is being unlawfully detained, he is entitled to immediate discharge ............................................................................................................. 90 E. KIKO IS A “PERSON” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE COMMON LAW OF HABEAS CORPUS AND THEREFORE CPLR 7002(A) ..................... 98 1. The term “person” in Article 70 refers to its meaning at common law ............... 98 2. As Kiko is autonomous and self-determining, he is a common law “person” entitled to the common law right to bodily liberty that the common law of habeas corpus protects ............................................................. 103 3. Kiko is entitled to the common law equality right to bodily liberty that the common law of habeas corpus protects ....................................................... 105 4. The New York legislature has already determined that some nonhuman animals are persons in the trust context ............................................................. 113 V. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 115 iv TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Addington v. State, 199 Kan. 554 (1967) ...................................................................................... 99 Affronti v. Crosson, 95 N.Y.2d 713 (2001)................................................................................. 109 Allen v. New York State Div. of Parole, 252 A.D.2d 691 (3d Dept. 1998) ..................................