In Naruto v. Slater, 2018 WL 1902414 (9th Cir. April 23, 2018)-the case in which Naruto, a crested macaque by and through his alleged “next friends,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, sued a photographer and his publishers for copyright infringement-the Court, citing an earlier case, Cetacean Cmty. v. Bush, 386 F.3d 1169, 1175 (9th Cir. 2004) stated that at least part of the requirements for standing-the existence of a case or controversy-was not impossible simply because the plaintiffs were animals.
While in both cases, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs did not have standing under the relevant statutes-in-suit, the fact that animals may have standing has been disputed by some and seems inconsistent with this court’s reasoning.
In Cetacean Cmty. the Court stated “we see no reason why Article III prevents Congress from authorizing a suit in the name of an animal, any more than it prevents suits brought in the name of artificial persons such as corporations, partnerships or trusts, and even ships, or of juridically incompetent persons such as infants, juveniles, and mental incompetents.” Cetacean Cmty., 386 F.3d at 1176.
But what the courts seem to overlook is that Article III is one of several articles to the Constitution of the United States which begins:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (Emphasis added).
I find Circuit Judge Smith’s...
