Justice for Justice (the horse): A Conversation w/ Matthew Liebman

Good Law | Bad Law

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by law professor and advocate, Matthew Liebman, of the University of San Francisco, to discuss animal rights and the notion of animal law.

Who is a “rights holder” under the law? In today’s episode, Aaron and Matthew explore this idea as they delve into the arguments about animal rights and the law and how the law is applied to nonhuman animals. In discussing strategic impact litigation, the question of property vs. life, compassion, and animal ethics, Matthew and Aaron talk about the animal law movement and what our obligations to animals are. Matthew touches on a groundbreaking case he is currently involved with, Justice v. Gwendolyn Vercher, that the Animal Legal Defense Fund filed on behalf of an 8-year-old horse named Justice. Throughout today’s conversation, Aaron and Matthew talk about the importance of animal rights, animal ethics and of making good law.

Professor Liebman joined the USF faculty in 2020 as the endowed Justice for Animals chair, as well as an associate professor of law. Before USF, Matthew was the director of litigation for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, where he litigated animal protection cases, including groundbreaking cases to defend the First Amendment rights of activists and to establish fundamental legal rights for nonhuman animals, for 12 years. Professor Liebman has co-authored the book “A Worldview of Animal Law,” which examines how the legal systems of different countries govern our interactions with animals and often appears as a frequent media commentator on animal law issues. Professor Liebman’s writing has appeared in the Animal Law Review, the Journal of Animal Law, the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, and the Animal Legal & Historical Web Center. Professor Liebman clerked for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Listen in now!

To learn more about Professor Liebman, please visit his bio page here.

To learn more about the Animal Legal Defense Fund please click here.

To learn more about the study of Animal Law at USF, please click here.

To learn more about Justice v. Gwendolyn Vercher, please click here.

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Matthew Liebman

Follow Good Law | Bad Law:

YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law

Facebook: @GOODLAWBADLAW

Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw

Website: https://www.law-podcast.com