The American Agriculture Law Association (“AALA”) announced that Prof. Richard L. Cupp from Pepperdine University, School of Law won its 2009 Professional Scholarship Award. His article titled Moving Beyond Animal Rights: A Legal/Contractualist Critique and can be downloaded online here from the San Diego Law Review.
Prof. Cupp’s article critiques the analogy made by some animal rights theorists between granting rights to animals and granting rights to corporations and to mentally incapable humans. Prof. Cupp eloquently documents the rapid expansion of “Animal Law” in U.S. law schools and argues that both humans and animals are better served by courts and legislatures focusing on human responsibility for humane treatment instead of giving “legal rights” to animals.
As an aside, I am a proud member and supporter of AALA and think it’s an outstanding organization for lawyers and law students interested in agriculture law. For information on AALA, email Robert Achenbach at robertA@aglaw-assn.org.