Whales Are Not Slaves

PETA has had its outrageous lawsuit claiming that whales are “slaves” thrown out of court. From the AP story:

An effort to free whales from Sea World by claiming they were enslaved made a splash in the news but flopped in court Wednesday. A federal judge in San Diego dismissed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to grant constitutional protection against slavery to a group of orcas that perform at SeaWorld parks, saying the 13th amendment applies only to humans.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller stopped the case from proceeding two days after he became the first judge in U.S. history to listen to arguments in court over the possibility of granting constitutional rights for members of an animal species. “As ‘slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are uniquely human activities, as those terms have been historically and contemporaneously applied, there is simply no basis to construe the Thirteenth Amendment as applying to non-humans,” Miller wrote in his ruling.

Duh.  The idea that Lincoln and Company would have considered animals covered by the 13th Amendment is ludicrous—and Frederick Douglas would have found the obnoxious notion positively insulting.

Dismissing this case isn’t enough.  PETA is a serial frivolous lawsuit and administrative complaint filer. It will appeal this case and continue its abuse of the legal system until it is punished for so doing.  Sanctions!  And in addition, make it pay Sea World’s attorney’s fees. Enough is enough.