Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program Year in Review 2019-2020

Animal Law & Policy Program | Harvard Law School | Year in Review 2019–2020
Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals
governing research to protect all animals, not
just vertebrates, and was submitted on behalf of
NEAVS, the American Anti-Vivisection Society,
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,
Humane Society of the United States, Humane
Society Legislative Fund, and eight of the world’s
leading scientific experts on cephalopods.
In July, the Clinic filed a petition for certiorari to
the US Supreme Court in a lawsuit challenging
the constitutionality of Indiana’s Right to Farm
Act, which eliminated the ability of homeowners
to sue for any remedy when large industrial hog
farms or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
(CAFOs) are sited next to their homes. The lawsuit
was filed on behalf of the Hoosier Environmental
Council (HEC) and two families that have had to
endure noxious fumes and toxic particles invading
the houses where they have lived for decades.
Clinic students Boanne Wassink ’20 and Andrew
Stawasz ’21 prepared the petition under the
supervision of Clinic Director Katherine Meyer and
HEC attorney Kim Ferraro. The petition argues
that the Indiana statute violates the Takings
Clause of the US Constitution because it deprives
the families of the value of their property without
any compensation.
The Indianapolis Star published this exclusive
story on the petition. The case has broad
significance beyond Indiana as many other states
also have amended their Right to Farm Acts to
enact similar provisions that deprive homeowners
of any recourse for nuisance and trespass
damages against CAFOs––at the behest of
industry groups like the Farm Bureau and National
Pork Producers Council. The Clinic anticipates
having to draft a reply brief for this matter during
the 2020 fall term.
The Clinic filed another lawsuit in July on behalf
of NEAVS and ALDF challenging the USDA’s
denial of the Rulemaking Petition seeking better
standards for the psychological well-being of
primates used in research (which the USDA
issued after the Clinic filed its unreasonable delay
case discussed above). That case that will be
litigated during the upcoming academic year. The
complaint was prepared by Brett Richey ’21 and
Rebecca Garverman ’21 and was covered by the
Boston Globe.
In August, Clinic Director Katherine Meyer filed
another amicus brief with the US Supreme Court
on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and
Defenders of Wildlife in a Freedom of Information
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