March 21, 2008

'Lesser' Forms of Life as Property

To the Editor:

Peter Schmidt seems to take for granted that the legal scholar Richard Thompson Ford is correct when "he mauls People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for comparing animal husbandry to human slavery and racist lynching" ("Pulling the Race Card From the Deck," The Chronicle Review, February 29).

Not so fast. As a civil-rights attorney who has for decades represented disenfranchised groups, including children and adults said to be incompetent, I would argue that