Board of Governors Professor, Distinguished Professor of law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law & Philosophy (Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Jurisprudence; Torts; Human Rights and Animal Rights; Seminar on Animal Rights)
Professor Francione received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Rochester and his M.A. in philosophy and his J.D. from the University of Virginia. He studied philosophy in Great Britain as Phi Beta Kappa Scholar. He was articles editor of the Virginia Law Review. After graduation, he clerked for the late Judge Albert Tate, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and for justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court. He practiced law in New York City before joining the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984, where he was tenured in 1987. He joined the Rutgers faculty in 1989.
Professor Francione has been teaching animal rights theory and the law for more than 25 years. He has lectured on the topic throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, and has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows. He is well known throughout the animal protection movement for his criticism of animal welfare law and the property status of nonhuman animals, and for his theory of animal rights.
Professor Francione is the author of numerous books and articles on animal rights theory and animals and the law. His most recent book, The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, was published in 2010 by Columbia University Press. His other books include: Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation (2008); Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (2000); Animals, Property, and the Law (1995); Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (1996); and Vivisection and Dissection in the Classroom: A Guide to Conscientious Objection (with Anna E. Charlton 1992).
Professor Francione is the coeditor (with Professor Gary Steiner) of a series, Critical Perspectives on Animals: Theory, Culture, Science and Law, published by Columbia University Press. He has also written in the areas of copyright, patent law, and law and science.
Professor Francione and his colleague, adjunct professor Anna Charlton, started and operated the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Clinic from 1990-2000, making Rutgers the first university in the U.S. to have animal rights law as part of the regular academic curriculum and to award students academic credit, not only for classroom work, but also for work on actual cases involving animal issues.
Professor Francione currently teaches (with Adjunct Professor Charlton) a course on human rights and animal rights, and a seminar on animal rights theory and the law. He also teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, torts, and evidence, and serves as chair of the Appointments Committee.
