Gluttony

Seth Victor             Gluttony is the big sin, the flagship of cruelty against animals, and because of that it is the hardest for me to put into original words. So many advocates before me have written so well about the consequences of over consuming animals. The message is simple, and is articulated best by Michael [...]

NY County Lawyers´ Association Animal Law Committee

  David Cassuto  From the email  For Immediate Release Contact: Anita Aboulafia aaboulafia@nycla.org        212-267-6646, ext. 225  Animal Law Committee Launches at NYCLA  April 28, 2010 – New York, NY – The New York County Lawyers’ Association’s (NYCLA) Board of Directors approved the creation of a new committee, the Animal Law Committee, at its April 12 [...]

Greed

Seth Victor             Thank goodness we live in a world of endless and unlimited resources. If it weren’t for that, I might be worried about the way we are treating the earth.  Man, if I were to suddenly find out that the populations humans recklessly destroy were unable to immediately regenerate, I think that would [...]

A Noteworthy Blog

David Cassuto For those interested in the U.K. elections and all things animal (or even if you´re not interested in the election), check out Kim Stallwood´s blog.  Kim is a longtime friend of the animals and an important voice in the movement.  His blog is well worth the read.

Stevens Update — The Content-Based Restriction Debate Continues to Swirl

David Cassuto Congress has introduced a new bill aimed at suppressing crush videos.  In the meantime, the Court will review another content-based law  – this one aimed at restricting violent video game sales to children.  One wonders how the Stevens precedent will figure into deciding whether this California law is constitutional.  More soon.

Lust

Seth Victor In college I learned a song. The lyrics of that song are largely unpublishable, but I will share the refrain, which goes, “Bestiality’s best boys, Bestiality’s best (something unmentionable about a wallaby)!” It was sung in jest, by both guys and gals, and the point was (I hope) to horrify and not to [...]

The CAFO Hothouse

David Cassuto The Shameless Self-Promotion Desk kicks into high gear with this from the email: Today, on Earth Day 2010, the Animals and Society Institute is pleased to announce the release of our sixth policy paper, titled “The CAFO Hothouse: Climate Change, Industrial Agriculture and the Law.” Written by David N. Cassuto, a professor at [...]

Wrath

Seth Victor             I did not intend to include wrath as the second sin, though according to Dante I am already out of order by putting pride first. In light of Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Stevens, I feel that this post is timely.             Wrath is a terrible vice in the context [...]

U.S. v. Stevens, The Post-Mortem

David Cassuto There’s little good here.  In Stevens, the Supreme Court struck down a law that aimed at and succeeded in curbing the market for crush videos and other animal mutilation.  To be fair, the law was seriously flawed.  But the Court’s analysis is worse.  However, the holding could have been worse still, so I [...]

The Sin of Pride

Seth Victor I have kindly been invited by Prof. Cassuto to guest blawg for a week while he attends all-night parties in Ipanema furthers the efforts of international law in Brazil with ambition that never fails to make me feel lazy in comparison. For now I hope to interest you with a thematic series of [...]

U.S. v. Stevens — The Decision is In

David Cassuto And the result is as expected.  The law goes the way off all things.  I shall have more to say on this shortly.

World Week for Animals — Making the Case Against Vivisection

David Cassuto We´re in the middle of World Week for Animals, during which people the world over speak out against vivisection. People often point to the need for animal experimentation to alleviate human suffering.  Putting aside the basic objection to torturing one sentient creature for the benefit of another, the premise lacks foundation.  Animal models have always [...]

The Return of the Bully Pulpit — Obama´s Conservation Initiative

David Cassuto Children in the United States spend about half as much time outside as their parents did.  Between 1995 – 2020, more land will be converted to housing in the Chesapeake Bay area than in the previous three and a half centuries.  Theodore Roosevelt is one of Barack Obama´s favorite presidents.  And President Obama will [...]

Cool Job Opening

David Cassuto In case you’re looking… Staff Attorney Location: Washington, D.C. Supervisor: Vice-President, Conservation Law Position Description This position is based in Defenders’ Washington, D.C. National Headquarters office and requires working knowledge of federal environmental and natural resources law and significant litigation experience. Primary emphasis is on litigating cases under federal wildlife and natural resources [...]

Justice for Sheep

David Cassuto You know those signs in every restaurant bathroom you’ve ever been in that declare it against the law for employees not to wash their hands after using the facilities?  I want to live in a world where such signs are not necessary.  I want to live in a world where employees wash their [...]

The Puppy, The Huckabee and The Gay Parent

David Cassuto Mike Huckabee says… “I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family. And always we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming interest of the adults. Children are not puppies. This is not a [...]

Second World Conference on Bioethics and Animal Rights, Salvador Brazil, August 2010

David Cassuto Animal Law is emerging in Brazil thanks to in large part to the efforts of some dedicated folks at the Federal University in Bahia.  Below follows a call for papers for the Second World Conference on Bioethics and Animal Rights which will be held in Salvador this August.  It is sponsored by the  Instituto Abolicionista Animal.     [...]

Some Good News in Maryland

David Cassuto The legislature has swum out of the deep end.

Law, Politics, and Maryland

David Cassuto A word on the dust-up at the University of Maryland.  The environmental law clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law has filed suit against some poultry producers alleging that their operations are fouling local rivers and that the runoff is polluting the Chesapeake Bay.  Defendants include local producers who raise chickens [...]

Ocean Acidification and the Clean Water Act

David Cassuto Great post over at Daily Kos about some tentative steps by EPA to regulate greenhouse gases using the Clean Water Act.  Oceans absorb roughly 1/4 of anthropogenic CO2.  The dissolved CO2 then forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the seawater, which then causes (among other things) mass die-off of coral.  Coral reefs are [...]

EPA Takes on a CAFO and Wins

David Cassuto From the email — some good news from the good people at EPA Region 2.  What I like about this is that EPA is inspecting CAFOS and that it is (at least sometimes) able to use the Clean Water Act as an enforcement mechanism. Administrative Settlement Reached with Large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation [...]

Vegetable Protein — The Untold Story

David Cassuto Why is it so scary that plants have protein?  Even as more and more veggie recipes appear in food sections of newspapers, discussions of plants´protein-rich nature remain conspicuously absent.  This is true even when a nutrition-breakdown accompanies the recipe.  

Indian Point Violates the Clean Water Act

David Cassuto From the Finally Smelling the Decaf Desk: NY State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has ruled that the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (located just north of NYC) violates the Clean Water Act.  The plant’s cooling technology, which has been obsolete for decades, kills so many fish and contaminates so much water that [...]

Looking Within and Without in the Amazon

David Cassuto I’ve returned from the Amazon where a wonderful time was had by all.  This trip — part of the Pace Law School Comparative Environmental Law class – was a complete success.  We saw toucans, caimans, sloths, monkeys, and all kinds of other wonders, including the Meeting of the Waters.  We lived on a boat [...]