Federal Judge Dismisses PETA Lawsuit Claiming SeaWorld Whales Are Slaves

SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed the lawsuit in October and named five whales as plaintiffs. PETA says the wild-captured Orcas are enslaved by SeaWorld because they are held in concrete tanks against their will and forced to perform in shows at its parks in San Diego and Orlando, Fla.

SeaWorld called the lawsuit baseless and a waste of the court’s time and money.

HOW, can this happen?

I don't know if you came across this article or not. I, for one, am glad that someone is keeping their eyes on issues like this, and not letting them be overlooked with everything else that is going on in this world. It they found this many, how many more are out there? Maybe, "Backward turn backward, oh time in the flight. Make me a child again, just for tonight," is not a good thing for way too many children.

The World Series, football ratings, basketball, new movies, new records out, what's on TV ............. really important, while we have this going on.

Child Prostitutes Rescued By FBI, Police
Slavery In The Suburbs
(CBS/AP) FBI officials say they have rescued 52 children in a series of raids around the country aimed at under-age prostitution.

Authorities say the youngest victim was just 10 years old. The bureau and local police officials also arrested 60 pimps during the three-day enforcement effort in 36 cities.

The raids are the latest in a long-running Operation Cross Country aimed at child prostitution rings around the country. Almost 1,600 agents and officers took part in the raids, which led to federal and state charges against a total of 691 suspects. The investigations typically target places where minors are likely to be sold for sex, including truck stops, casinos, public streets, and Internet Web sites.

In February, the FBI completed another sweep in major cities around the U.S., rescuing 48 teenage girls - some as young as 13 - whom the agency said were forced into prostitution.