David J. Wolfson

Last updated
David J. Wolfson
NationalityAmerican
Education Duke University (BA, 1988)
College of Law (CPE, 1990)
Columbia Law School (JD, 1993)
OccupationLaw professor

David J. Wolfson, is an American attorney, [1] author and animal rights advocate, [2] whose work on animal law has focused on the McLibel Case against McDonald's, The McLibel Case and Animal Rights, [3] alleging cruel farming practices, as well as on systematic abuse in factory farming and agribusiness. [4] He was formerly Adjunct Professor of Law at Harvard Law School [5] and New York University School of Law, [6] and Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School. [7]

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Selected publications

Related Research Articles

McDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris [1997] EWHC QB 366, known as "the McLibel case", was an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a factsheet critical of the company. Each of two hearings in English courts found some of the leaflet's contested claims to be libellous and others to be true.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals American animal rights organization

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. The nonprofit corporation claims 6.5 million supporters. Its slogan is "Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way."

Corporate farming Large-scale agriculture driven by big business

Corporate farming is the practice of large-scale agriculture on farms owned or greatly influenced by large companies. This includes corporate ownership of farms and selling of agricultural products, as well as the roles of these companies in influencing agricultural education, research, and public policy through funding initiatives and lobbying efforts.

Food libel laws Laws passed in some US states to make it easier for food producers to sue their critics for libel

Food libel laws, also known as food disparagement laws and informally as veggie libel laws, are laws passed in thirteen U.S. states that make it easier for food producers to sue their critics for libel. These thirteen states are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. Many of the food-disparagement laws establish a lower standard for civil liability and allow for punitive damages and attorney's fees for plaintiffs alone, regardless of the case's outcome.

Agribusiness Agriculture-related industry

Agribusiness is the business of agricultural production which involves the production, protection, sales and marketing of the product to satisfy the customers need. The term is a portmanteau of agriculture and business and was coined in 1957 by John Davis and Ray Goldberg. It includes agrichemicals, breeding, crop production, distribution, farm machinery, processing, and seed supply, as well as marketing and retail sales. All agents of the food and fiber value chain and those institutions that influence it are part of the agribusiness system.

Evan Wolfson

Evan Wolfson is an attorney and gay rights advocate. He is the founder of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States, serving as president until its 2015 victory and subsequent wind-down. Wolfson authored the book Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, which Time Out New York magazine called, "Perhaps the most important gay-marriage primer ever written..." He was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, Rutgers Law School, and Whittier Law School and argued before the Supreme Court in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. He now teaches law and social change at Georgetown Law School and at Yale University; serves as a senior counsel at Dentons, the world’s largest law firm; and primarily provides advice and assistance to other organizations and causes, in the United States and globally, that are seeking to adapt the lessons on ‘how to win’ from the same-sex marriage movement.

Animal welfare and rights in Israel is about the treatment of and laws concerning nonhuman animals in Israel. Israel's major animal welfare law is the Animal Protection Law, passed in 1994, which has been amended several times since. Several other laws also related to the treatment of animals: Rabies Ordinance, 1934; Fishing Ordinance, 1937; Public Health Ordinance, 1940; Wildlife Protection Law, 1955; Plants Protection Law, 1956; Criminal Procedure Law, 1982; Animal Disease Ordinance, 1985; National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Memorial Sites Law, 1991; the Law of Veterinarians, 1991; Dog Regulation Law, 2002; Rabies Regulations (Vaccinations), 2005; and Prohibition on declawing cats unless for reasons vital to the cat's health or owner's health, 2011.

Animal Outlook, formerly known as Compassion Over Killing (COK), is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., led by President Erica Meier. Formed in 1995, as a high school club, their primary campaigns are to advocate against factory farming and promote vegan eating. While the group welcomes those who are interested in animal welfare who eat meat, it encourages a transition to a plant-based diet.

Farm Sanctuary Non-profit organization in the USA

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Abolitionism or abolitionist veganism is the animal rights based opposition to all animal use by humans. Abolitionism maintains that all sentient beings, humans or nonhumans, share a basic right: the right not to be treated as the property of others. Abolitionist vegans emphasise that animal products require treating animals as property or resources and that animal products are not necessary for human health in modern societies. Abolitionists believe that everyone who can live vegan is therefore morally obligated to be vegan.

2008 California Proposition 2

Proposition 2 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 4, 2008. It passed with 63% of the votes in favor and 37% against. Submitted to the Secretary of State as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, the initiative's name was amended to officially be known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals initiative. The official title of the statute enacted by the proposition is the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.

Ketanji Brown Jackson American judge

Ketanji Brown Jackson is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In 2016, she was interviewed as one of United States President Barack Obama's potential nominees for the United States Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Judge Jackson has been speculated as one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's possible Supreme Court nominees should he win the 2020 election and have the opportunity.

Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."

Becky Sandstedt is an American filmmaker and animal welfare activist. She investigated the conditions of downed animals on commercial farms and is a former investigator for Farm Sanctuary, an American animal rights organization that acts on behalf of farmed animals.

Ag-gag laws are anti-whistle blower laws that apply within the agriculture industry. Popularized by Mark Bittman in an April 2011 The New York Times column, the term ag-gag typically refers to state laws in the United States of America that forbid undercover filming or photography of activity on farms without the consent of their owner—particularly targeting whistle blowers of animal rights abuses at these facilities. Although these laws originated in the United States, they have also begun to appear elsewhere, such as in Australia and France.

Animal welfare and rights in Canada is about the laws concerning and treatment of nonhuman animals in Canada. Canada has been considered to have weak animal welfare protections by the organization World Animal Protection. The vast majority of Canadians are for further animal protections, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Mercy for Animals.

Animal welfare and rights in South Africa is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in South Africa.

Animal welfare and rights in France is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in France. France has moderate animal welfare protections by international standards.

Wayne Hsiung

Wayne Hsiung is an American attorney and activist. Hsiung is a co-founder of the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Prior to founding DxE, Wayne was a lawyer with the law firms DLA Piper and Steptoe & Johnson, a Searle Fellow and visiting assistant professor at the Northwestern University School of Law, and an NSF Graduate Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

References

  1. "David J. Wolfson". Milbank LLP. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  2. "March 2010 Law Symposium Announced". Animal Justice Canada. 2010-02-09. Archived from the original on 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  3. "McLibel". Animal Legal & Historical Center. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  4. "Beyond the Law: Agribusiness and the Systemic Abuse of Animals Raised for Food or Food Production". Animal Legal & Historical Center. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  5. "'Future of Animal Law' to be explored". Yale Bulletin & Calendar. 33 (10). 2004-11-05.
  6. Shugrue, Virginia (2015-12-23). "Farmed Animal Welfare: Changing Laws, Changing Public Perceptions and the Massachusetts Ballot Initiative". News Center at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  7. "Israeli Justices Speak on Foie Gras Decision". Columbia Law School. 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2020-06-26.