Journal of Animal & Environmental Law

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By Michael Roberts

This work explores the moral status of laws prohibiting bestiality and whether they are justified in practice or justifiable in theory. Part I of the paper introduces us to bestiality by first testing our moral intuitions regarding the act. Through a list of 10 examples we are asked to consider whether we find some acts morally wrong, and therefore prohibitable by law. Next, the paper explores the current state of the law. It considers possible definitions of bestiality from the Church, secular law, and legal scholars. Each definition is criticized as overly broad, vague, and in at least one case, too narrow. Instead, a new definition of bestiality is proposed which better comports with our moral intuitions and eliminates some problems associated with the prior definitions. Read on.

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By Laura Story Johnson

In 1989 at an American Institute of Biological Sciences meeting, Mostafa K. Tolba, then Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), warned that “as many as 50 million people could become environmental refugees” without coordinated meaningful international action to safeguard the global environment.2 In 1999, the chairman of the World Water Council argued that “more people flee due to environmental problems than due to war,” and estimated the number of environmental refugees in the world to be 25 million, warning that this number would quadruple by 2005.3 Also in 1999, Grover Foley wrote that “Climate change, at a conservative estimate, will increase the number of environmental refugees six-fold over the next fifty years: from 25 million to 150 million.”4 In October 2005, the United Nations University (UNU) warned that the world may have to deal with as many as 50 million environmental refugees by the year 2010. Read on.

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By Cameron Griffith

Human waste pollution, sometimes referred to as fecal coliform pollution, is a major threat to the waterways throughout much of Kentucky. In many cases, this pollution is piped from homes and businesses directly into the ground water and streams. Additionally, failing septic systems and aged sewer systems also allow sewage to contaminate the groundwater and surface water. Whether it comes from a failing septic system in Central Kentucky, or a straight pipe sewage discharge from a home in Eastern Kentucky, the bottom line is sewage has polluted many streams and rivers to the point they are no longer safe for human contact. Unfortunately, many do not understand that human waste is not simply unpleasant; it can be dangerous. In fact, many believe that sewage leaking, leaching and cascading into the ground and into the waterways is nothing more than a cosmetic problem, a stench that is unpleasant yet necessary and quite simply a part of life. Read on.

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By Melissa McHendrix

On January 24, 1989, Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida.1 As one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, the sound of his name can send a cold chill down one’s spine. Although he was never convicted for the deaths of all the 26-57 suspected victims, his trial and subsequent execution seized the attention of the general public and media networks alike.2 People could not fathom how and why a man would commit such heinous acts against other human beings. In addition to the gruesome details of the murders, the media primarily focused on why Bundy was such a callous individual. Countless psychologists and psychiatrists rushed to share their theories about his troubled childhood and introverted personality. Despite the doctors’ belated claims that Bundy was a ticking time bomb, his friends, coworkers, and neighbors never saw it coming. Read on.

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By: Victoria Steinbach

Throughout history, humans have constantly modified their surroundings, often at the expense of environmental integrity. With global conservation efforts becoming increasingly important, there has been a great deal of focus placed on water systems. Wetlands in particular have become the subject of serious concern, giving rise to a variety of international organizations and efforts to combat the increase in wetlands destruction. For example, one hundred and fiftynine countries are currently signatories to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which provides a framework for international cooperation for the conservation and use of wetlands.1 Although the definition varies, there are three essential components to the definition of a wetland: hydrology, hydric soils, and hydrophytic vegetation. Read on.

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By Alan S. Nemeth

Interest in the advancement of animal welfare has grown in the United States in recent years. This growth can be seen by the passage of stronger animal welfare laws, including the banning of gestation and veal crates in Maine in 2009, the passage of Proposition 2 in California in 2008 which banned battery cages and gestation and veal crates, and the passage of stricter puppy mill laws in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana in 2008. Read on.

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By Jason Schwalm

I. INTRODUCTION
Police officers and officials from the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals served a warrant at the home of Wanda Oughton on March 26, 2009.1 There they found “93 cats that had virtually destroyed the interior of the structure.”2 The two‐story, million dollar brick home in the upscale Chester Township neighborhood of Morris County, New Jersey, was “filled with feline urine and fecal matter” in piles that “reached two feet high.”3 Read on.

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By Justin Brewer

Two bordering states, somewhat similarly situated in terms of water abundance, have remarkably different systems by which they allow water to be pumped. Both are considered riparian doctrine states, at least as compared to prior appropriation doctrine states.1 Kentucky, however, is a modified riparian state, with what resembles adaptive governance controlling how water is allocated in most situations. Tennessee is pure riparian, at least at the state level, and leaves the governance of water pumping to the cities. Both face some present drought or emergency conditions. The future clearly implies more strain on either water allocation system due to steady increases in population. Read on.

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By Rexéna Napier

Those who claim history does not repeat itself have probably claimed that before.

There have been some dark times in our nation’s history. Times when a government meant to protect the people scared them instead. Times when a government founded on the free exchange of ideas silenced dissent. Times when a government for the people and by the
people, monitored its people. Those times are here again. Read on.

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By Adam Watson

The precise origins of beer are a mystery long lost to time, but its prominence in human history is undeniable. Early grain-based cultures found their lives enriched by the invention of beer as it allowed them to concentrate grain-wealth, sanitize drinking water, and improve their social and religious ceremonies.1 American poet John Ciardi even went so far as to proclaim that “fermentation and civilization are inseparable.”2 While the definition of beer is dynamic and its recipes wildly diverse, there is one ingredient that beer simply cannot do without: water. As the American brewing industry continues to make a strong showing second only to China in the ever growing global beer market,3 the demand for adequate water supplies also grows. In the context of increasing household and industrial water demands, widespread drought, pollution concerns, and allocation conflicts in the eastern United States, an understanding of the water needs and responsibilities of eastern American breweries is necessary to maintain an adequate supply of beer. Read on.