Re:Should Rivers Have Same Legal Rights as Humans? Growing N...
by smt88 on Monday August 05, 2019 @12:37AM
(#20611328)
In the US, governments can put money on trial[1]. In the US, the same jurisdiction can be used to put any piece of land on trial as well[2].
> how does the river have money to pay me?
The remedy at the end of a lawsuit may or may not involve money. Not all successful suits result in financial transfer.
> why pretend the river has rights?
The article addresses this. By giving rights to the environment, harming the environment is punishable by default, even if you come up with a completely novel way to do it.
In our current system, you can harm the environment until someone notices, write a law or rule, and then stops you from doing it.
There's precedent for other living things to have rights[3], so where do we draw the line? Why can't an entire, complex ecosystem have the same rights as a human or a monkey?
> how does the river have money to pay me?
The remedy at the end of a lawsuit may or may not involve money. Not all successful suits result in financial transfer.
> why pretend the river has rights?
The article addresses this. By giving rights to the environment, harming the environment is punishable by default, even if you come up with a completely novel way to do it.
In our current system, you can harm the environment until someone notices, write a law or rule, and then stops you from doing it.
There's precedent for other living things to have rights[3], so where do we draw the line? Why can't an entire, complex ecosystem have the same rights as a human or a monkey?
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._$124,700_in_U...
2. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/in_rem
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_disput...