CategoryLaw
How Our Expert Classes Have Torpedoed Public Trust
Long time free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff and Angel Eduardo dissect the Cancel Culture that makes distrust a quite reasonable choice
Bioethicists Get Legacy of Terri Schiavo Death Wrong
Some bioethicists complain that her protracted starvation death has powered pro-life forces into political prominence
Should the Iconic Stanford Prison Experiment Study Be Retracted?
Within six months of the death of the famous sociologist who devised it, long-simmering questions have risen to the surface
PETA Sues NIH: Claims First Amendment Right to Talk to Monkeys
The complaint alleges the animal rights advocates have a right to receive communications from “fellow primates” that are “willing speakers.”
Science Blogger: Make Violating “Scientific Consensus” a Crime
Attitudes like those expressed by Ethan Siegel have cost the scientific sector much of the public’s trust and goodwill.
Swiss Canton Liberates Suicide Tourism from Police Investigation
Suicidal people are increasingly abandoned to lethal assistance, with steps continually taken to make death easier to access
Montana Senate Passes Bill Outlawing Physician-Assisted Suicide
In a muddled legal situation, the bill declares assisted suicide to be contrary to Montana public policy, making a previous courtroom defense unavailable
DeepSeek: Honing In on the Challenges It Presents
Although the program is admirably streamlined, censorship, data breaches, copyright violation, and lack of guardrails are among the most prominent challenges
Did China’s DeepSeek Violate OpenAI’s Legal Rights?
“Distillation” technology may have allowed DeepSeek to piggy-back on ChatGPT to capture market share
New Zealand Mountain Named a Person with Rights, Responsibilities
And what responsibilities can the mountain possibly assume? Can it be sued for an avalanche?
Gender-Dysphoric Children Protected from “Gender-Affirming Care”
The American medical establishment is increasingly the fringe advocate on this issue
Colorado Supremes Unanimously Nix Elephant Personhood
The court further ruled that such a radical and culture-destroying change in law should not be imposed by courts but rather legislatures
Can AI Really Code the Value of Humans?
The new book Soulless Intelligence urges that we program all AI systems to treat all humans as infinitely valuable – the only exceptions being criminals and aggressors
Edge of Sentience Summarizes Research on Animals’, AIs’ Feelings
And animal rights laws as well. But there is a dark side to Jonathan Birch’s approach too…Philosophy prof Jonathan Birch, principal investigator of the Animal Sentience Project at the London School of Economics, has written a book on whether and how animals feel things: The Edge of Sentience (Oxford University Press 2024). It’s not as arcane a topic as it might at first appear. It shows up in new legislation and think tanks. At Amazon, we learn, for example, “In 2021, he led a review for the UK government that shaped the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. In 2022-23, he was part of a working group that investigated the question of sentience in AI.” And as Birch told Marc Bekoff at Psychology Today, I’m probably best-known for my work on invertebrate sentience, which is one part Read More ›
High UN Official Supports Nature Rights and Environmental Lawfare
Nature doesn't really go to court. People with political agendas do
Australia’s Social Media Ban and Children’s Mental Health
An Australian psychiatrist hopes that his job might become easier in the future due to Australia's coming ban on underage use of social media
Questionable Study on Assisted Suicide and Suicide Correlation
Bioethicists find a way to make suicides "disappear" from a study
Last Year Saw the Worst Telecom Hack in Our Nation’s History
While millions of Americans’ metadata were compromised, the specific targets seem to be important political figures and people of interest to the Chinese government
Voters Grant Rights to a River in Everett, Washington
Scientific certainty about potential damage to the river need not even be demonstratedThis article is reprinted from National Review with the permission of the author. More than 30 U.S. cities have adopted nature rights ordinances, mostly to prevent fracking. And now in the recent election, 57 percent of voters in Everett, Wash., granted rights to a geological feature, specifically, the Snohomish River watershed. From the initiative: The Snohomish River Watershed possesses the rights to exist, regenerate, and flourish, which shall include the right to naturally recharge, the right to naturally flow, the right to water quality necessary to provide habitat for native plants and animals, the right to provide clean water, and the right to restoration. The Snohomish River Watershed shall also have the right to be free from activities or projects which violate those rights. This is Read More ›