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University of Chicago Law School Project Seeks Practical Solutions to Animal Rights Questions
[by Erica Winter] Combating the maxim that ignorance is bliss, law faculty and students at the University of Chicago Law School pursue strategies to forward animal rights through increased consumer information.

The Chicago Project on Animal Treatment Principles began in the 2003-2004 academic year when two events fortuitously converged: a donor suggested funding an animal rights research project at the law school, and two law faculty members--Cass Sunstein and Martha Nussbaum--co-edited a book in the field (Animal Rights: Current Debates and

scholars from outside the legal field as well. The conference served to hone the projects work and its approach towards food labeling, says Jeff Leslie, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law. Leslie, with a background in medical ethics and public policy, helps to organize the project. The projects research looked at, among other things, the history of past labeling initiatives, such as nutritional labeling and organic labeling. Researchers also investigated other voluntary participation and certification programs and how voluntary programs could be effectively enforced. The research has shown, thus far, that labels following this model (Chicago format labels) should have small categories, give clear information, and address the most important animal-treatment factors for that animal.

its suppliers use labels on animal products identifying how that animal was treated, says Leslie. The exact form of the pilot is still being negotiated, says Leslie. One major issue to determine: what exactly goes on the label? Chicago scholars would work with the producers and the store to determine the exact content of the labels and make sure the information takes context into account. For example, trimming chickens beaks seems inhumane. But if the chickens are in close quarters, then beak trimming prevents them from hurting each other. So an end to beak trimming would also need to include a reduction in crowding. Or, any beak trimming would need to be for the animals safety. Any information on the labels must be in context and thus will require some work to clarify all the nuances in succinct, understandable ways.

New Directions, 2004, Oxford University Press).

To find an arena of animal rights that could be changed by legal scholars and students, organizers focused the project on food labeling as a way to impact the way livestock animals are treated. We believe that consumers want to make ethical choices, but have insufficient information, says Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, via an email interview. And, with the University of Chicagos history of economic theory, it seems fitting that the law school project approaches the issue from a market--as opposed to a mandatory government regulatory--perspective. Looking at utilitarian concepts relating to animal rights, too, makes Chicago Law the natural place for this project, says Sunstein. To determine how and whether a labeling system informing consumers would impact the treatment of animals, the faculty and students researched the different facets of this issue last summer. The project participants then presented findings and proposals at an October 2004 University of Chicago conference on the topic, which included

The project will both continue its work on labeling food to inform consumers and also expand its scope to address other issues impacting animal rights. While the newest arm of the project has yet to be solidified, the issue of medical testing on animals is a top contender, say both Leslie and Nussbaum. The next step for the labeling initiative is setting up a pilot project to test the practical impact of the Chicago format labels. Looking at actual consumer response to the new information is the primary goal. The pilot project, which is currently being negotiated with a possible participating company, would involve a grocery store chain requesting that The animal treatment principles project has both scholarly and practical policy components for students. On the scholarly side, Nussbaum, whose faculty appointment is in philosophy and divinity, as well as law, explains how law and philosophy intersect in terms of animal ethics: Animal ethics needs to be approached with good general conceptual tools, so there is a need for the study of ethical theories such as Kantianism and Utilitarianism or my own capabilities approach. The problems dont get formulated in the right way without good conceptual tools, and for [the last] 200 years, philosophers have been working on the problem of

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animal ethics, so there is a lot that the law can learn from that. On the practical side, the animal principles project shows law students a whole other side of lawyering than much of legal education, says Leslie. The project gives students experience in not just studying existing law, but also in looking how to reach a desired outcome through the formation of new legal solutions, either legislative or otherwise. This type of project would be useful for students going into legal work on any civil rights issues, or public service law, says Leslie. Similar to other law school clinical programs, the animal treatment project focuses on a specific problem and trains students how to address that issue with legal tools. At its core, the project is a case study in legal or regulatory policy, says Sunstein.

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