History Main / InhumanableAlienRights

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Porter C. Powell has his own opinion after the Headmaster is arrested for stealing Sentinel Prime's body and attacking Optimus Prime with it. While asking exactly what is being charged with, one of his statements is "Assault? Since when does an alien robot have rights?" [[ExcuseBoomerang Later this gets turned around on him]] when Optimus Prime and Grimlock take a device from him, return it unusable, and abuse him a bit (harmlessly, except to his suit) in the process; Powel can't get the police to do anything to them.

** Weston has no problem shooting Hyoi (who as a hross looks [[IntelligentGerbil seal-like]] and not humanoid like Weston expected) on sight without bothering whether he may be murdering a sentinent person. Even later when he ''knows'' the victim was a person just as he is, he shows no remorse and maintains that the only life of value is human life. Later still it becomes clear he ''doesn't'' even value individual human lives; or even the human species as it now is, but just that ''some'' creature that has some origin in humanity (however vague) continues to conquer and plunder.
** By contrast to the aforementioned, the Martians are actually perfectly moral and have no difficulties acknowledging the full personhood of a human (just like every other ''hnau''[[note]]person[[/note]]). Weston is given a fair trial for the murder of Hyoi. The Martians also realise that the human Elwin Ransom was abducted by the other two against his will; so he is just as much of a victim of their havoc as their Martian victims, instead of being in any way responsible. The only thing they blame him for is [[PoorCommunicationKills not coming to them for help]] against his abductors sooner when he managed to escape. However, they also acknowledge that he had no means to divine whether or not they might be hostile, and was thus rationally fearful to make contact.

It is worth noticing that "people" have rights, not "humans" ([[OfThePeople not that this isn't rocky territory]]). So if a writer wished to [[HandWave ignore]] the issue, they can mention that courts declared them "people", no need to rewrite any laws or constitutions at all. This isn't all that great a stretch, as RealLife courts have ruled that such bodies as governments, civic organizations and corporations can be recognized as 'persons' so that they can be legally represented and/or sued in criminal/civil cases.

* Ghosts in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' can be openly killed by the Anarky sisters presumably because ghosts are near-universally threatening if not murderous with their goals. The episode "1 Angry Ghost" has it as a plot point that Mr. Petter was the only ghost to ever gain legal citizenship and rights because of his status as a TokenHeroicOrc making his death a murder.

* In ''Fanfic/AllAmericanGirl'' though the pony DJ is raised as a human, she's not seen as one and has to endure being treated more than once as a pet (much to the anger of her adoptive human parents) until the Supreme Court rules on her tenth birthday that all sapient creatures are legally persons.

* In ''The Broken Earth'': Orogenes were declared legally not humans, so that they can be killed, tortured, and imprisoned.

* ''Literature/{{Next}}'' has quite a lot to say about this issue as it has a few transgenic animal/humans in its cast of characters (and indeed, Dave's backstory is very sad). That said, it eventually gets to the point where even the rights of individual cells are questioned.

* ''{{Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy|The Broken Earth}}'': Orogenes were declared legally not humans, so that they can be killed, tortured, and imprisoned.

* The setting of ''Manga/ThoughYoungPeopleRecoilFromEnteringTheBlackMagicIndustry'' has many fantasy races who are treated as people, but the undead are an exception. This allows the necromancer Vanita to use undead as slave labor. [[spoiler:Eventually, the law is changed and Vanita does a HeelFaceTurn, employing the undead honestly.]]

* The Ghouls in ''Anime/TokyoGhoul'' have no rights. In fact, the Ghoul Countermeasure laws make just being born a Ghoul a capital offense. Those who are captured are immediately executed, even children, which most humans are okay with. Anyone who tries to help or hide Ghouls from [[HunterOfMonsters the CCG]] is subject to immediate imprisonment and seen as worse than someone who aided a human murderer. Then again, it's not hard to understand why, since Ghouls need to [[HorrorHunger feed on human flesh to survive]] and there are some who see humans as an inferior species.

'''Azetbur:''' In''alien''. If only you could hear yourselves. ''Human'' rights. Why, the very name is racist. The Federation is no more than a ''Homo sapiens''-only club.

*** The robot thing comes up, weirdly, in ''Buffy'', as well-there are three apparently sapient androids in the series. The first, in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E11Ted Ted]]", is a serial killer they get rid of, but April the sexbot from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E15IWasMadeToLoveYou I Was Made to Love You]]" is treated as a mentally disabled person unfairly created and discarded. The Buffybot has a long and storied career, and never achieves enough self-awareness to worry about her rights, but is definitely treated as capable of suffering. Not to mention the demon who was trapped in a book, accidentally scanned into the internet, and then had himself downloaded into a robot.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Touched on in Season 4 with the Initiative's treatment of Oz the werewolf. They wanted to experiment on him despite the fact that he, unlike most of the demons and monsters they dealt with, had a legal existence as a person and a student.
** The robot thing comes up, weirdly, in ''Buffy'', as well-there are three apparently-sentient androids in the series. The first is a serial killer they get rid of, but April-the-sexbot is treated as a mentally-disabled person unfairly created and discarded. The Buffybot has a long and storied career, and never achieves enough self-awareness to worry about her rights, but is definitely treated as capable of suffering. Not to mention the demon who was trapped in a book, accidentally scanned into the internet, and then had himself downloaded into a robot.
* The same topic arose on ''Series/{{Angel}}'' with an organization that meets once a month to dine on werewolves--who are human 90% of the time and return to human form on death (which means they must be eaten alive)

* Inverted and subverted on ''Series/BabylonFive''. A human is suing a Vree for damages resulting from the alleged [[AlienAbduction kidnapping]] of his grandfather. The plaintiff claims to have found proof in Vree records, while the Vree enters his plea in a language nobody in the court understands forcing them to recess and find an interpreter. We never hear how it ends.
* Comes up in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', unsurprisingly. "A Human Reaction" reveals that John thinks his alien shipmates would suffer from this sort of treatment if they ever made it back to Earth. Subverted when they do get back in "Terra Firma"; the aliens are treated like celebrities, put up in a beautiful mansion, provided with all the material goods they want... though they are still prisoners. Things may have gone differently if John's dad hadn't been part of the team that discovered Moya. It couldn't have hurt that the humanish-looking Sikozu made first contact and could speak English (and the terrifying Scorpius was not onboard).
* In ''{{Series/Merlin 2008}}'' "practicing sorcery" is a capital crime. However since people are born with sorcerous abilities and can use them instinctively without contemplated intent, it is tantamount to outlawing sneezing or having a patellar reflex, so humans with sorcerous abilities are treated pretty much like a criminal subspecies.
* An episode of ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'' revolves around a murder trial in which the defendant is a Taelon who kills a former soldier in what appears to be self-defense. The Taelons are determined to keep the trial as human as possible in order to show that they're willing to abide by human rules and even request that Zo'or be put on the jury as a "peer". In fact, Zo'or does everything he can to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty of murder, even though the hospital video is clearly showing the soldier pulling a gun on him. Technically, this is not allowed, as new evidence (e.g. that Taelons are EnergyBeings and cannot be harmed by bullets) cannot be introduced while the jury is deliberating. Zo'or wants to get the other Taelon convicted and punished (preferably by execution) to further his political goals. Then Boone manages to convince the judge to overturn the verdict and let the defendant go. The Taelon ends up killing himself at Zo'or's orders.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'': {{Artificial human}}s have no rights by Galactic Authority law, so they can be freely tortured.

* While most of the monsters of the week on ''Series/TheXFiles'' could at least pass as human, "The Host" has this as a major roadblock -- the Flukeman has been captured alive and does not appear to be human or even sapient, but Skinner still wants it given a psych evaluation so that they can figure out whether or not to prosecute it for the murder of several individuals. Of course, it then escapes in transport, so...

->'''Chekov''': We do believe that all planets have a sovereign claim to inalienable human rights.\\
'''Azetbur''': In''alien''. If only you could hear yourselves. ''Human'' rights. Why, the very name is racist. The Federation is no more than a ''Homo sapiens''-only club.

* ''Series/{{Alf}}'' was in part hiding out over concerns that he'd be dissected-explicitly stated in the pilot and the MadeForTVMovie ReunionShow (in which he was the only returning character-so can it be said that it was a reunion??).

** ''Series/StargateSG1'' explored this in "Enigma" when [[TheMenInBlack the NID]] tried to take the [[HigherTechSpecies Tollans]] away with them to get their technology. Granted, the Tollan are human, [[TransplantedHumans just from another planet]]. It results in this exchange:
--->'''Jack''': These people do have rights, you know.\\
'''Col. Maybourne''': Do they? Under what nation's jurisdiction?\\
'''Daniel''': How about ''basic human rights!?''

** The series explored this question a number of times, primarily with the android Data. In "Measure Of A Man", he is the subject of a hearing by a Starfleet JAG officer to determine his legal status: is he property or a person? The judge mentioned that they were "dancing around the basic issue: does Data have a soul?", which she concluded could not be proven or disproven, just as it could not proven or disproven for humans and other organic sentients. Later episodes on the topic featured Data defending the right of other artificial sentients to life and liberty, and the question of Data's rights as a "parent" when he creates his "daughter", Lal.
** This was done again with polymorphic tools called Exocomps that were proven to have gained low-level intelligence and were excellent problem-solvers.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' explored the rights of the holographic doctor, including his right to have a say in his treatment.
** In one episode, rather than delete months of his memory (and personality), Janeway eventually allowed him to work through psychological problems that could have kept him out of Sickbay for weeks or even months-despite the risk this might pose to the crew. Janeway had initially decided to just reboot the Doc, but changed her mind upon talking to Seven of Nine. When Janeway pointed out that the Doc was more like a replicator than a human, Seven pointed out that she, too, being Borg, was composed of parts not unlike the replicator, and wondered whether Janeway would eventually override her free will as well.
** In one episode, the Doctor had written a novel and submitted a draft, pre-editing, that the publisher thought was delightfully salacious in the way it seemed to impugn the Voyager crew, and promptly started distributing. The Doctor sued to have it stopped; the publisher argued he couldn't sue because he wasn't a person. TheFederation quite sensibly has no desire to extend suffrage to an easily-replicated computer program that can be given whatever personality, desires and values the programmer wants it to have (not to mention have its Ethics directory deleted with a push of a button). For what it's worth, the final decision is a bit of a subversion of the usual outcome: the court decides that the Doctor is not legally a "person". However, in an instance of a MeaninglessVillainVictory, the court decides that while he does not qualify as a "person", he does qualify as an "artist", and therefore is granted ownership rights to his holonovel anyway.

** By contrast to the aforementioned, the Martians are actually perfectly moral and have no difficulties acknowledging the full personhood of a human (just like every other ''hnau''[[note]]person[[/note]]). Weston is given a fair trial for the murder of Hyoi. The Martians also realise that the human Elwin Ransom was abducted by the other two against his will; so he is just as much of a victim of their havoc as their Martian victims, instead of being in any way responsible. The only thing they blame him for is [[PoorCommunicationKills not coming to them for help]] against his abductors when he managed to escape. However, they also acknowledge that he had no means to divine whether or not they might be hostile, and was thus rationally fearful to make contact.

* [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Devils]], [[ArtificialHybrid friends, and hybrids]] in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' are repeatedly stated to have no rights, so Public Safety is free to [[JoinOrDie employ them under threat of death]]. Quanxi even takes a mission to hunt Denji under the promise of the government giving her fiend [[{{Polyamory}} girlfriends]] full human rights and a formal education. Of course, the same series has government agencies using prison inmates, orphaned children, and even random citizens as conscripts and {{Human Sacrifice}}s, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters so one can question if anyone has much in the way of rights]].

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation takes the firm stance that their goal of [[ArtifactCollectionAgency containing the anomalous]] and upholding TheMasquerade supersede the individual rights of any person. This means that any anomaly, regardless of how humanoid or sapient it might be, is to be imprisoned for life and experimented on as they deem necessary. They claim that doing so is [[NecessarilyEvil a necessary part of preventing]] TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Whether or not they're right is [[DependingOnTheWriter up to the writer]], [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation as well as the reader]].

* [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Devils]], [[ArtificialHybrid friends, and hybrids]] in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' are repeatedly stated to have no rights, so Public Safety is free to [[JoinOrDie employ them under threat of death]]. Quanxi even takes a mission to hunt Denji under the promise of the government giving her fiend [[{{Polyamory}} girlfriends]] full human rights and a formal education. Of course, the same series has government agencies using prison inmates, orphaned children, and even random citizens as {{Human Sacrifice}}s, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters so one can question if anyone has much in the way of rights]].

* A frequent plot point in the ''World of the Lupi'' series is the legal status of the werewolf-like Lupi. The current law in-setting is that they are entitled to all human rights while in human form, but none of them while in wolf form, though a recent ruling (as of the first book) determined that it was legal for a lupus to use his wolf form in self-defense, in the same way a human under attack could set loose a guard dog without the dog being put down afterwards. Main character Rule spends a lot of time (though mostly off-screen or background to the plot of the given book) lobbying and generally representing his people in an effort to get them more rights, while the villains spend a fair amount of effort trying to get the lupi considered legally animals in ''more'' circumstances.

* On the opposite end of the scale, we have Robert J. Sawyer's novel ''Illegal Alien'', in which one of the first aliens to visit the Earth is arrested and put on trial on suspicion of murdering a human. The aliens are quite obviously more technologically advanced than humanity and could very well wipe out the entire planet if they decided to, so only the most radical humans oppose giving the suspect a fair trial. That said, there is some argument over whether an alien can be considered "sane" by human standards, and several times it's brought up that most people think of the aliens as interchangeable and identical rather than varied individuals. [[spoiler: It is eventually revealed that most of the aliens do not regard ''humans'' as having any rights, and planned to destroy us as a potential threat, which the alien suspect foiled.]]

'''Azetbur''': In''alien''. If only you could hear yourselves. ''Human'' rights. Why, the very name is racist. The Federation is no more than a ''Homo sapiens''–only club.

* The ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' crossover between ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' and ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' mined this a lot: S.H.I.E.L.D. "cape killers" feel okay with firing on Victor because he's "[[JustAMachine just a robot]]," and Hulkling, Karolina, and Xavin are all lined up by a MadScientist for dissection because they don't have any legal rights as aliens. Subverted in the "Battle Damage Report", where Tony Stark notes that while Karolina isn't human, she technically should have had rights as a US citizen because she was born in California.
* In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} discovers ComicBook/LexLuthor murdered [[Franchise/{{Superman}} her baby cousin]]. When confronted about it, Luthor calmly--and smugly--states killing an alien can't be considered a crime.
* Bar Sinister from ''ComicBook/ShamansTears'' were a group of genetically uplifted animals. The evil corporation that created them felt justified in treating them as possessions as they had a court ruling stating that they weren't human.

* Subverted in a Warren ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' episode, where our heroine does a job for the CIA and gets a USA passport (i.e. citizen rights) as a reward. (It certainly helped that she belongs to the good gals, looks human when she doesn't show her fangs or wings, and also otherwise makes a completely UnusuallyUninterestingSight. [[BlatantLies OK, maybe not the last part...)]]
* Totally averted in ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}''. Hellboy (demon), Abe (fishman), Krausse (disembodied ghost) and Roger (homonculus) are all legally recognized as people with full rights through their service to the B.P.R.D., though there's some debate over Roger at first. Said debate involves a ''bomb'' being put in his chest. This is the first of a series of events that leads to Hellboy's dissatisfaction with, and eventually quitting, the B.P.R.D.

* Mike Carey's ''Literature/FelixCastor'' series has a version of this for the undead -- who are human, just postmortem, and have no clear legal status. And for demons, too. (And the resident evil scientist would definitely cut up anyone in either category as long as she could get away with it.)

** ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'': Subverted when the conscientious Sam Vimes insists on going through proper police procedure, including asking the creature whether it is resisting arrest, before shooting a crazy werewolf. The ethics of killing "monsters" that are also sentient creatures in the Discworld is dealt with in several of its books. For instance, Granny Weatherwax insists on having an anthropomorphic wolf given a proper burial after it is killed at its own request. The BigBad is bringing {{Fairy Tale}}s to life. In the fairy tale, the Big Bad Wolf behaves like a human, but it's okay to kill him like a wolf. By burying him as if he were human, Granny is fighting the story. So Pratchett was playing with how the story of ''Little Red Riding Hood'' is an example of this trope.
** Carrot, whose freeing of Dorfl started the golems' own peaceful self-liberation, and who once arrested a dragon. The golems are an interesting subversion in how the police behave. Vimes at one point is asked to arrest Dorfl for committing a murder which the golem was confessing to, but he knew was innocent. To get out of this, he deliberately invokes this trope, pointing out that, legally, golems aren't people and thus can't murder anyone, and if anything it's the golem's owner who's the murderer. The owner attempts to abandon his ownership of the golem, at which point Carrot points out he can't do that because it's littering. Carrot then buys Dorfl for a dollar and gives him to himself. Besides, if he owns the golem, which has no personhood, he should be liable for any crimes it commits. However, this exact predicament was avoided in RealLife by the law treating slaves or indentured servants as freemen if they did anything wrong. Of course, Golems have [[RestrainingBolt no choice]] but to obey their masters, whereas human slaves can choose to do otherwise, although this will often have painful consequences.

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story ''Jerry Was A Man'' is about an attempt by a genetically modified chimpanzee to achieve human rights. A very rich human woman adopts Jerry. Worried that the company that owns Jerry might decide to have him killed when he is no longer useful, she hires a law firm to have Jerry declared human. The law firm coaches Jerry on how to testify (it is technically illegal to coach witnesses, though almost impossible to prosecute). Jerry proves himself finally by singing a song to the judges in court. An episode of the short-lived ''Masters of Science Fiction'' TV series was based on this, but replaced the chimp with a genetically engineered humanoid formerly used to clear mine fields.
* In Heinlein's ''Literature/TheStarBeast'', in the back-history of TheFederation we have the Cygnus Decision which established that: ''Beings possessed of speech and manipulation must be presumed to be sentient and therefore to have innate human rights, unless conclusively proved otherwise.'' Lummox's problem was the lack of manipulative organs, until she grew two arms and hands partway through the novel.
* Creator/CharlesStross plays with this a fair amount. In ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue'', it's a reasonably major plot point that the CIA doesn't consider anyone with demonic ancestry to be legally human, per a secret Supreme Court ruling. Early in ''Literature/{{Accelerando}}'', the main character delivers an impassioned (and eventually mostly successful) plea for the rights of digitally uploaded personalities.
* Creator/MichaelCrichton's final published book, ''Literature/{{Next}}'', has quite a lot to say about this issue as it has a few transgenic animal/humans in its cast of characters (and indeed, Dave's backstory is very sad). That said, it eventually gets to the point where even the rights of individual cells are questioned.
* Literature/KittyNorville is kidnapped so that the kidnappers can ''televise themselves'' forcing her to turn into a werewolf on ''live television.'' They even allow her to do a piece for the camera first. They think they'll get away with it because they'll be revealing her [[SuperPoweredEvilSide true demonic nature]]. The sight of a terrified wolf cowering away from the silver-painted walls of her cell [[KickTheDog doesn't do them any PR favors]] (nor does the fact that when she didn't become aggressive, the guy who kidnapped her tried to force her into attacking an innocent bystander by shoving the man's arm into her cage).
* On the opposite end of the scale, we have Robert J. Sawyer's novel ''Illegal Alien'', in which one of the first aliens to visit the Earth is arrested and put on trial on suspicion of murdering a human. The aliens are quite obviously more technologically advanced than humanity, and could very well wipe out the entire planet if they decided to, so only the most radical humans oppose giving the suspect a fair trial. That said, there is some argument over whether an alien can be considered "sane" by human standards, and several times it's brought up that most people think of the aliens as interchangeable and identical rather than varied individuals. [[spoiler: It is eventually revealed that most of the aliens do not regard ''humans'' as having any rights, and planned to destroy us as a potential threat, which the alien suspect foiled.]]
* Subverted in Patricia Brigg's ''Literature/MercyThompson'' series: as technology reaches the point where it's starting to expose supernatural beings to possible exposure and/or experimentation, the fae, and later werewolves, voluntarily 'expose' themselves to the public. The respective leaders of these supernatural cultures enacted very precise public-relations plans for revealing themselves in a manner designed to maximally protect their rights and safety. It's Double-subverted by the fae: after a high profile anti-fae extremist was acquitted of permanently crippling a half-fae teenager and murdering several other fae, the half-fae's father, a powerful fae lord, appeared outside the courthouse and declared that it was obvious that the American criminal justice system didn't consider crimes against fae equal to crimes against humans. He then [[OffWithHisHead cut the extremist's head off with a sword]] on live television and stated that as of that moment [[ThisMeansWar the fae were now at war with the United States]].
* In ''Literature/MonsterHuntersInternational'', the US government pays bounties on anything deemed a "monster." While many such creatures are quite happy killing and eating humans every chance they get, there are also a large number who just want to be left alone and have no hostile intentions towards any human- some are even pacafists. They're still considered fair targets unless an individual monster wishes to sign up for the government's black-ops monster squad, at which point they're forced to be a deniable, expendible asset for all sorts of dirty operations around the globe for several years. ''If'' they manage to survive (not easy given that their handlers really don't have any concern for their wellbeing), they're given a token saying that they're now free, but that's only good so long as the government doesn't feel like they want that monster working for them again.

* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/FallingFree'' has the project which created the quaddies operating in a system where they could be classified as "Post-fetal experimental tissue cultures" and therefore have no rights.
* ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' series:
** Becomes a bone of contention in ''Literature/MoonOverSoho'' where new guy [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers PC]] Grant quotes the sections of the Human Rights Act that in theory deals with ''not'' summarily executing sentient beings (pointing out that it only says "Human" rights in the title-the actual text says "persons" a rather more vaguely defined word), [[ObsoleteMentor old hand]] DCI Nightingale [[AppealToTradition points out]] that this would blow the {{Masquerade}} wide open. Then the suspects in question [[DebateAndSwitch kill themselves]] and resolve the issue neatly.

* Terry England's ''Literature/RewindTerryEngland'' revolves around seventeen adults who get deaged to nine-year-old children. They suddenly find themselves with a whole lot less rights as a result. For instance, Aaron's wife wanted a divorce; after he's rewound, she gleefully seizes all of his assets [[spoiler:and sells him to an interested buyer]].

* A very dark version in ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' by Creator/CharlesStross, in which the US Supreme Court has ruled in secret that human and civil rights protections only apply to actual humans, freeing up the American occult intelligence service the Black Chamber to treat nonhumans (or anyone with nonhuman blood, such as the [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Deep One]] Ramona Random) however they like. In fairness, A, the Chamber doesn't treat humans much better, and B, most nonhuman life in the series thinks human souls are crunchy and good with ketchup.
* A central conflict of the ''Literature/{{Stardoc}}'' series through ''Rebel Ice'' stems from the fact that Cherijo, as a genetically engineered clone, is legally nonsentient and the property of her creator Dr. Joseph Grey Veil according to Terran law (a law which Joseph himself lobbied for). The citizens of Kevarzangia Two, whom Cherijo had saved from an epidemic, uniformly disagreed with this but the judge proved unwilling to overrule Terran law. The clan of Cherijo's deceased Jorenian husband Kao Torin took a more direct approach and simply staged an armed assault on the courthouse to break her out; the Jorenian government broke off all diplomatic ties with the League afterward. [[spoiler:Joseph dies helping her escape at the climax of ''Shockball'', and in ''Rebel Ice'' the Jorenians acquire sufficient leverage to force the League to drop their grievance and arbitrate an end to the war with the Hsktskt in the process.]]

** In the ''Literature/DanteValentine'' series Psions were underworld commodities until relatively recently, when the politically powerful [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nichtvren]] successfully lobbied for the Parapsychic Act and Paranormal Species Act, which granted full citizenship to human Psions and paranormal creatures and laid down the ground rules for Psions' training and employment. FantasticRacism is still a serious problem though, and the laws aren't always enforced.

* One of the ''Literature/JasonWood'' stories had Jason defending a werewolf in a murder trial, specifically because he wanted to establish that non-human sentients were entitled to the same basic legal protections as humans under the law. He got the werewolf off by demonstrating that under the circumstances, what she did was legally self-defense - and then has her arrested for a killing she committed that could not be justified on those grounds as she left the courthouse, establishing the necessary corollary, that non-human sentients are also subject to the same punishments under the law as humans when they commit crimes. A later story continues this trend by Jason having a man arrested for a crime committed ''against'' a werewolf.
* In ''Literature/Aeon14'', the Phobos Accords provide for the civil rights of sapient {{Artificial Intelligence}}s, and additionally dictate rules on their creation and upbringing as well as creating a separate legal system to prosecute {{Artificial Intelligence}}s that commit crimes. [[spoiler:Unfortunately the partial collapse of civilization in the TimeSkip after book three causes the Accords to be abandoned.]]
* Inverted in the ''Literature/ImperialRadch'' series, where the {{Starfish Alien|s}} Presger adjudicate a galactic treaty that divides species into "Significant" and "fair game to kill on sight". The human Radchaai Empire, otherwise ruthless expansionists, are extremely careful not to jeopardize their status as Significant, because the Presger are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien far too powerful]] to fight and have [[BizarreAlienPsychology too alien a mindset]] to interact with in any other terms.
* ''Literature/SantaOlivia'' has [=GMOs=] (genetically modified human beings) denied all rights under an amendment to the US Constitution. This is later challenged and repealed however.
* ''Literature/ShadowOps'' has mages being automatically conscripted, while 'probes' or mages with prohibited powers (necromancy, portals, entropy magic, creating elementals)are killed out of hand, in theory. In actuality, several are kidnapped to another world (the Source) and put to work for shady corporate/government interests, where it is made clear defiance is punishable by death or lobotomy.

* This is the main plot of Jean Vercors' ''Les Animaux Dénaturés'', where a team of anthropologists attempts to prove that a tribe of "missing link" hominids (the Tropis) are sentient and thus can't be used as slaves. Their plan involves creating a Human-Tropi hybrid (through artificial insemination), killing the offspring and be put on trial for this, letting the judges decide whether it was a murder or simply the killing of an animal.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Porter C. Powell has his own opinion after the Headmaster is arrested for stealing Sentinel Prime's body and attacking Optimus Prime with it. While asking exactly what is being charged with, one of his statements is "Assault? Since when does an alien robot have rights?" [[ExcuseBoomerange Later this gets turned around on him]] when Optimus Prime and Grimlock take a device from him, return it unusable, and abuse him a bit (harmlessly, except to his suit) in the process; Powel can't get the police to do anything to them.

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Porter C. Powell has his own opinion, namely when asking exactly what the Headmaster is being charged with, one of his statements being "Assault? Since when does an alien robot have rights?" Later this gets turned around on him when he can't get anything done to them after Optimus Prime and Grimlock end up taking a device they really need ASAP and returning it unusable, as well as abusing him a bit (harmlessly, except to his suit) in the attempt to get it.