Animals and the Constitution with Michael Dorf

In this intellectually stimulating episode of the Animal Law Podcast, Mariann Sullivan speaks with constitutional law expert Michael Dorf about his innovative course “Animals and the Constitution.” Dorf shares how fundamental legal principles intersect with animal protection, revealing both the limitations and opportunities within our constitutional framework for advancing animal rights.

This episode explores:

• Constitutional standing for animals: How courts determine whether animals can have legal standing and the challenges of representing beings who cannot speak for themselves
• Religious freedom vs. animal protection: Analysis of Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah and the complex balance between First Amendment rights and preventing animal cruelty
• Free speech implications for animal advocacy: Examination of United States v. Stevens and the constitutional challenges of regulating depictions of animal cruelty
• Comparative constitutional approaches: How other countries are incorporating rights of nature and animal protections into their constitutional frameworks
• Strategic advocacy dilemmas: The difficult balance between arguing for specific animals’ rights while avoiding implications that might alarm courts

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Michael C. Dorf is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, where he teaches constitutional law, federal courts, and related subjects. He has authored or co-authored six books (including, with Sherry Colb, Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights) and over one hundred scholarly articles and essays for law journals and peer-reviewed science and social science journals. His most recent work of scholarship (co-authored with Sherry Colb) is “If We Didn’t Eat Them, They Wouldn’t Exist”: The Nonidentity Problem’s Implications for Animals (Including Humans), in The American Journal of Law and Equality. He also frequently writes for the general public. In addition to occasional contributions to The New York Times, USA Today, CNN.com, The Los Angeles Times, and other wide-circulation publications, Professor Dorf has been writing a bi-weekly column since 2000 and publishes a popular blog, Dorf on Law. Dorf received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. He served as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court. He maintains an active pro bono practice mostly consisting of writing Supreme Court briefs.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode’s interview.

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