Of Zombies And The Law.

[SiliconKnight]

First of all, thank you for creating a rules and laws thread for zombies. I was waiting for something like this to express my strong zombie fetish.

1. First try to avoid a zombie or zombies and then shoot. Ammo is precious and other zombies will come to investigate the sound.

2. Never charge a zombie thinking you are rambo. Especially with any melee weapon.

3. Remember - all of your weapons are for self defence. Leave the offencive to the military.

4. Before entering a building, think about it's safety and how many people are in there. More than 10 is a place you MUST avoid.

5. Before barricading yourself in a building first think about safety - is there a secondary exit, are there big windows, is it sound isolated, is it high ground? Then about vision - can you see everything in half a kilometer radius, can you spot air and ground rescue. And then for supplies and comfort - is there enough food and water for at least a week, is there beds or couches, are there any books, cards or games for you to be entertained.

6. Plan ahead, think of any possible scenario and decide the best way to deal with it.

7. Always have a lookout, zombies just LOVE heavy sleepers, a guard watching during the day and night is a must.

8. Watch your numbers, if you want to barricade in a small house, apartment or any small space, you must be 4 or less. 5 or more for a moderate space with enough supplies and the maximum is 10 for a large space. Any more than 10 people is forbidden.

9. Ration you supplies. Stockpile everything you can and make schedule for everyone. The optimal diet is 2 meals/rations and a liter of water per day. Also, have some medicine ready. You never know when you will get sick.

10. Search for an escape route, find a vehicle or transport, contact the military (without drawing every zombie in a mile radius to you position)

Not even close

OT: It seems to me that the closest legal parallels are not rules regarding insanity but those regarding domesticated and exotic animals. The problem with adapting those laws is most rely on punishing the owner more instead of the animal. IF the zombies still retains his property maybe fining the estate is more reasonable than trying to prosecute next of kin.

 

[Khedive Rex]

[img_inline]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s46/Labyrinth_11/LabyrinthRedStar-1.png[/img_inline]Rex, I bestow upon thee a Labyrinth Red Star for your efforts. This is beautiful. It brought a tear to my eye.

HUZZAH! I have Red Star! I should make you cry more often.

Now to the point of this thread.

My first step in addressing the issue of Zombies would be to issue a national warning about the danger and institute a series of community initiatives through which people who were attacked would be identified. Once someone was identified they would be retrieved by a task-force, issued with a wrist band/dogtags/etc as an identification feature then sent to temporary containment facilities. In short, like a quarantine. Samples of blood and tissues would be obtained where possible (and preferably with consent of nearest relation) for research purposes in the hope of finding a cure.

The only problem I can forsee with that is the issue of "Salem Witch Hunts". If the detection and subsequent deportion of zombies is entirely regulated by community initatives it leaves the floor open for fear-mongering, corruption and, ultimately, non-zombied men and women going to the quarantine because they have more politically connected enemies. And even if they didn't go zombiefied, they would inevitably contract it at the quarantine site so there is little method of approving that everyone you take was a genuine infectee. The fact that you took them ensures they became infected.

In the instance of zombies requiring food that could not be provided through standard cattle slaughterhouses it would be unethical to let them consume the living, though the recently dead could donate their bodies or have them donated by relatives. Criminals up for the death penalty could also be issued general anaesthetic and 'donated'. They wouldn't feel the pain and while this could operate as an entirely voluntary system it may be better to include it in the sentence as a further deterrent for crime.

I am required to make the obligatory "wrongly sentenced to death" excuse but honestly I don't see the difference between passing out and not waking up and passing out, not waking up and being fed to zombies. So...

Zombies, according to all the stereotypes are not conscious or intelligent beings, living solely on instinct (namely that to feed on the flesh of the living.) As such they would be unable to function as individuals in the society. Unable to work, unable to care for children, unable to take care of themselves without imposing on the rights of others. As long as they are in a zombiefied state, they would be unable to inherit, pay tax or face criminal trial. It's not so much a matter of an insanity plea as a matter of the zombie not being the same as the person they were before.

If zombies can't stand trail and pay debts with the funds they acrewed before zombification, then who pays penalties for damage casued by zombies? The government, or those who were damaged? To provide an example, if a zombie breaks your window attempting to enter your home and the zombie cannot be sued to pay for the cost of replacing the window, does the government subsidise all zombie misdemeanors or are Mr and Mrs Jones just without a window?

Also, you say that a zombie can't legaly be considered to be the gaurdian of a child. What of the zombies other responsibilities. If a married man is zombified, is he still a married man? Should the board of directors of a company be zombified, if his position secure or will he find out five years later that he is without work and his wife has long since remarried?

Protecting the general population is an issue in and of itself. I would attempt to roll-out a radio system with walkie-talkies for everyone in the event of a zombie encounter. Arms laws would be changed to permit the carrying of weapons which could incapacitate zombies. Tests on possible tranquillisers would run in order to provide that option but in the mean time other weapons could be used such as tasers. The death of a zombie in an individual's self defence would not be treated as murder and would carry no charge. Curfews would only come into place as a last resort, and then would only be for individual travel as people moving in groups could still do so, though if intoxicated would face a warning.

See, now this part seems like your arming and alarming the population. Giving them free range to travel at night and the means to shoot anything that frightens them coupled with the knowledge that killing zombies has no legal ramifications seems like its going to increase your rate of accidental killings. People firing into the dark because they're spooked at a zombie and accidentally hiting a person.

As mentioned before there'd be an encouragement for people to surrender zombies to the containment centres which would keep them away from the general population. These wouldn't be kept a secret either, and they would be reasonable facilities as soon as circumstances would permit so there was less hesitation about handing over Aunty Mel to the state. Transport of zombies would be regulated and restricted to certain vehicles which meant the zombie could not attack the driver to minimise the opportunity for further infection and the areas where zombie populations are high would have scattered surveillance to watch for zombies alone and an attached warning system.

The issue of euthanasia and zombies would truly arise if scientists established that there was no chance for a cure. Then, a referendum would be taken to declare zombies a pest under law and permit the state to cull the zombies. On the basis that a 4% infection rate means that about 60% or more of the population would know someone who had been zombiefied it would be a fair way to decide. That's based on the idea that each individual knows at least 15 people. Obviously there would be a section of the community who wouldn't but it'd be a minority. Culls would be done in as human a method as the situation would allow, with lethal injection type executions preferred and bodies returned to families for burial and the like.

All good and reasonable.

You'll forgive the analysis but one of the things I really love about this topic, part of why it appeals to my sentiments so much, is that there really isn't a right answer. There is no way to "win" this scenario as far as I can figure out and every solution proposed has it's own unique downsides. Plus theres a little bit of political interest in it, coupled with a few legal paradoxes and set in a zombie infested world. What more can I ask for? It's like... I love this topic!

 

[Mcupobob]

what type of zombies are they?
Because the real only thing you can do is quariten them off and try to find a cure which is immpossible to say the less depending on what type of zombie they are, You might as well be trying to cure death itself.

so in short kill them all.

 

[Khedive Rex]

OT: It seems to me that the closest legal parallels are not rules regarding insanity but those regarding domesticated and exotic animals. The problem with adapting those laws is most rely on punishing the owner more instead of the animal. IF the zombies still retains his property maybe fining the estate is more reasonable than trying to prosecute next of kin.

See, now that is fascinating. I wouldn't have thought of treating the zombie as one would an exotic animal. You're right that most of the punishments would be ... probably inapplicable, but it does open an odd avenue of legal consideration. Could one keep ones zombified relatives at home if one obtained a license to care for them? Should regulations be established by the government to ensure that Zombies are given the appropriate leve of care and are not abused or dealt with creuly? That's interesting...

And you bring up the advantage I've been waiting for someone to mention. Not letting a Zombie keep his stuff seems logical but by allowing a zombie to retain it's estate the issue of how to treat it as a legal entity becomes much easier. Namely, if you can prove Zombie A did this much damage, Zombie A pays you this much from his estate.

Of course, the obvious downside of this is that if a cure is ever found there is a realistic possiblity that ex-zombies will wake up with no money in their bankaccounts or worse yet owing thousands of dollars. Any job they had before their zombification is probably forfiet and theres bound to be a stigmata associated with hiring the undead so it's an open question if they could ever pay off the debts they incured while they were, essentiall, not in control of themselves and not to be held responsible for their action.

 

[JanatUrlich]

I don't have anything to say except...I want to meet the person in that first picture.

me too.

 

[Khedive Rex]

Fantastic discussion.

The likely ideas that spring to mind are similar situations that occur in District 9 and Shaun of the Dead. In the aforementioned, detention centres are created to shelter mindless aliens. They have been identified as a "working class" type, meaning they are incapable of thought or initiative, they are regarded sub-human.

Haha! Thats true isn't it? You know, I watched District 9 but I hadn't thought of the parrellels until now. Thats pretty cool actually.

[HEADING=2]Isolating Zomibied Population[/HEADING]

I would suggest something like a detention centre. A detention facility is usually installised (at least in Australia's case) to process incoming immigrants, a place where they can stay whilst the government discerns whether they're eligible for citizen-status or are to be deported.

I'd propose installing similar infrastructure to house the infected. In Australia, we have plenty of space to be able to keep the facilities isolated and the space for them to expand if need dictates. In the case of a security breach, the distance between the centres and populated areas would be too great for them to make without a) being caught or b) starving.

The first thing I have to ask is how long it would take to build the facilities in question. If it's a couple of months what do you do with the infected in the meantime to prevent them endangering the rest of the population?

[HEADING=2]Laws[/HEADING]

Under my regime most laws would remain the same amended to include clauses for infected person(s). Racial discrimination will not be tolerated as the statements will be made in the same naivety as commonly held racial slurs.

[HEADING=3]Inheritance[/HEADING]: As they aren't capable of making decisions the property would pass into the next of kin or if not applicable becomed the ownership of the state, unless otherwise specified in the individuals "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" or equivilant order. If the person have no papers or next-of kin they will be put to sleep after 6 months of detention.

Having them abandon their property as soon as they are zombified leaves them in an odd position if a cure is ever produced. They would wake up suddenly and own nothing. No place to sleep, no bead to sleep on, no clothes to wear and no car with which to leave the outback. Not having had a job during the, potentially, years they've suffered from zombification they also would likely have no money with which to acquire any of these items. They would be people dependant entirely on the charity strangers.

[HEADING=3]Criminal Justice[/HEADING]: If a zombie commit a heinous act in populated areas, damage of any sort including hurting others and defacing property, the family will be charged for negligence if the zombie has not been sent to these detention centres. If they have escaped under government control, the authorities will cover all damages.

[HEADING=3]Industrial Relations[/HEADING]: They are unable to think therefore they cannot work. They have no use for consideration inexchange for a good or service. They don't contribute to the economy nor does the comminity gain benefits from their negated spending. Employers will be informed by a medical insitution of their zombification and have their pay terminated.

Pay terminations lead to the same scienario I discussed above. While a zombie certainly cannot work the person who became the zombie spent his entire life building a career and working toward his goals. If the CEO of a company were to be zombied, under your plan he would wake up and have nothing, not even the promise of begining again at his old industry. I can't tell if that jepordizes free-market principles or violates the social contract but for some reason I find it objectionable.

[HEADING=3]Welfare[/HEADING]: There will be mechanisms in place for those with infected family members, similar to disabled or special-compensations today.

[HEADING=3]Curfew[/HEADING]: My idea of dealing with the outbreak is to keep life as normal as possible. This should only ever be a stand-by if a mass outbreak occurs at a facility, otherwise it's business as usual.

Christ I could go on. Anyway my idea would be simple implementation of clauses to deal with the zombies, not to rebuild society around them. They are an anomoly, not a society redefining change.

The subtle approach, I like it. You'll forgive the analysis but part of what I really love about this topic is that I have spent a good solid couple of days thinking about it and every option I come up with has a down-side. There's no obvious way to "win" you just have to decide what you want to accomplish, what goals you value above others, and then run with it. I find that satisfying, intellectually.

 

[mlkjhgfds]

Nice post.


Few questions on zombies and Brains. We're assuming zombies will crave brains.


- What happens if they don't get em? Will they slowly "die"? Do we have to consider the risk that it'll somehow make them turn crazy/sick/unable to function properly if/when they're cured?

Basically, will the lack of food (brains) cause harm to a zombie in the short or long term? If it does, there's no way govs/associations will be able to care for any zombified portion of the population. Would have to leave it to families/friends to care for their zombie relatives. Can imagine the price of a brain will skyrocket, so only the very rich could take care of their zombies. Try to impose a price limit and people will fight over brains. Also, black market sales.



- Will zombies attempt to eat other zombies' brains, maybe after some time?

If so, it means you'd have to use individual cells to contain zombies. Traditionally zombies don't seem to go for each other's brains, but who knows, if everyone avoids em for some time...



- How certain are we, and most importantly how certain can be made everyone, that Zombies are completely "unconscious" ?

People would start arguing over their rights.



If zombies were somehow conscious, but had urges to kill and eat brains, and wanted to die - suicide machines in areas where only zombies are allowed. Some kind of robot, press a button, shoots you in the head, or some similar quick death that doesn't involve anyone.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

The first thing I have to ask is how long it would take to build the facilities in question. If it's a couple of months what do you do with the infected in the meantime to prevent them endangering the rest of the population?

Well nothing is instantaneous, there will be a transition period of at least a couple of months. Until then I suppose a camp would have to be constructed to house the infected. The main aim is to move the threat away as soon as possible - whatever the cost.

In the mean time, most hospitals have quarintine areas for seriously ill patients - we'll stuff them in there. Yes it will cause a brief flooding of hospitals but it's an interim solution.

That's also assuming the virus is not airbourne.

Having them abandon their property as soon as they are zombified leaves them in an odd position if a cure is ever produced. They would wake up suddenly and own nothing. No place to sleep, no bead to sleep on, no clothes to wear and no car with which to leave the outback. Not having had a job during the, potentially, years they've suffered from zombification they also would likely have no money with which to acquire any of these items. They would be people dependant entirely on the charity strangers.

Pay terminations lead to the same scienario I discussed above. While a zombie certainly cannot work the person who became the zombie spent his entire life building a career and working toward his goals. If the CEO of a company were to be zombied, under your plan he would wake up and have nothing, not even the promise of begining again at his old industry. I can't tell if that jepordizes free-market principles or violates the social contract but for some reason I find it objectionable.

Well most would have a family to return to that have been compensated and as said all property and ownership will move onto the Next-of-kin or other specified party. The government can't start dishing out money to everyone with every circumstance. They're already dumping millions, if not billions, into finding a cure.

If they come out of zombification then we could have job-relearning and perhaps some basic welfare similar to the dole, or even tax benefits if employers hire the previously undead. The government can't sit on money as it's to big and to personal resposiblity for them to maintain and, as said, the estate should take care of it in their absence.

The subtle approach, I like it. You'll forgive the analysis but part of what I really love about this topic is that I have spent a good solid couple of days thinking about it and every option I come up with has a down-side. There's no obvious way to "win" you just have to decide what you want to accomplish, what goals you value above others, and then run with it. I find that satisfying, intellectually.

Welcome to politics!

Oh Rex, I love me a round-about intellectual, fictional discussion as much as the next academic junkie, keep the criticisms coming.

 

[Khedive Rex]

The subtle approach, I like it. You'll forgive the analysis but part of what I really love about this topic is that I have spent a good solid couple of days thinking about it and every option I come up with has a down-side. There's no obvious way to "win" you just have to decide what you want to accomplish, what goals you value above others, and then run with it. I find that satisfying, intellectually.

Welcome to politics!

Oh Rex, I love me a round-about intellectual, fictional discussion as much as the next academic junkie, keep the criticisms coming.

Haha! A man after my own heart. Well, since you invite ...

Well most would have a family to return to that have been compensated and as said all property and ownership will move onto the Next-of-kin or other specified party. The government can't start dishing out money to everyone with every circumstance. They're already dumping millions, if not billions, into finding a cure.

See, that's the issue I'm unsure of. Theres no way to predict how long it would take for a zombie cure to be developed and accoding to your plan infected citizens are swept under the carpet after a fasion. Their property is distributed, any obligations they held to companies or individuals are dissolved and any contracts they entered are voided. That technically includes marriage contracts. If a married man contracted the zombie desease, his wife would be a free agent again the moment he was discovered by the government. What percent of the un-spoused do you think would stay committed to their partners after 5 years of no progress and supporting the kids on government handouts? I think if a cure weren't found very quickly the amount of family-less zombies would increase exponentially.

Additionally, in scienarios in which, out of a family of four lets say, the main bred-winner is the only one zombiefied and their house and possessions are granted to their spouse, it might well be the logical thing for the family to do to downsize into a easier to afford living condition. They may sell the house and sell the possessions and after years of waiting eventually move on, leaving the recently un-zombied completely without.

If they come out of zombification then we could have job-relearning and perhaps some basic welfare similar to the dole, or even tax benefits if employers hire the previously undead. The government can't sit on money as it's to big and to personal resposiblity for them to maintain and, as said, the estate should take care of it in their absence.

As stated, I'm not convinced the estate is gauranteed and in the absense of the estate everything else is in jeopardy. You typically need a mailing adress to be employed and to have a mailing adress you need the money to purchase an apartment. To be employed they also typically wnat a number by which you can be contacted, which again cannot be provided without a pre-existing source of money. If you begin in abject poverty it is very difficult to make advances. Wellfare would be a step in the right direction, except that the same trouble remains, you need a mailing adress to recieve welfare and you already have to have at least a moderate nest-egg to have a mailing adress.

 

[mrpenguinismyhomeboy]

WTF? Why would we not just kill them all? It's so much simpler. But since I can't say that...

I guess I would just take all the zombies and give them their own city, like Vancouver, and just change the name to zombie-opolis. And it would be walled off with fences or something.

In my opinion zombies are zombies, unless proven otherwise. And I personally believe that unless proven otherwise, we have right to shoot them on sight. YEEHAW.

The issue to be remembered is that your scientists are working tirelessly to develop a cure that will turn the infected back into humans. Similarly, the outbreak has not yet reached the capacity where it presents an open and obvious danger to the continuation of society. As such, shooting them on sight is unnessacary. The goal is to minimalize casualties and ensure that everyone who was infected can return to leading a normal life after they have been cured, while reducing the risk of them spreading the infection while they are still ill.

To that effect, for example, it would be easy enough to say that all zombified citizens forfiet their property to the next of kin and that, if no next of kin can be found, the deed is surrendered to the government. However, this means that when the infected are finally cured all of them will be homeless except the ones who can convince thier next of kin to relinquish ownership of their house. It is also presumed they have not been working while they were infected and therefore have no money to purchase hotel rooms or food or the basic amenities of life.

Thats the point of this game. It's a catch twenty-two. You can't really win it, all you can do is decide what is important to you and design the laws so that they reflect those goals.

You have proposed moving all the infected to a single city. What will become of their property? Will reparations be payed to the current residents of Vancouver for (presumably) kicking them out of their homes in order to house the zombie hoard? Will the infected be considered expendable and if so to what degree? What conditions justify your peace-officers killing the infected? If the goal is to have the zombies survive until such time as they can be cured, will you provide medical assistance to the zombies who have sustained injuries which would be fatal to humans but which they can survive in their zombiefied state? Furthermore, what will become of the families who are rendered without income because the family bread-winner was rendered a zombie? Will they be provided with tax-payer money or simply allowed to starve?

This is a very in-depth question. I'm essentially asking you to create a new and implementable zombie escape plan, except not just for you. For your entire country. When we find Zombies, what should our policy reactions be? Remebering that just shooting them all on sight is not an option.

What's the rate of infection though? Who does it affect? How does it effect people? Is it airborne? Does it only pass through bites? What our time limit on the cure? What does the virus do? Does it mutilate them? Does it strengthen or weaken their bones? Does it alter their DNA? does it allow them to run faster or slower them a normal human? Do they still retain their intelligence?

Before we start treating zombies as though they could be cured, we have to establish that the effects of the virus are reversible. And if it is, logic would lead me to believe that their would be little no actually cellular damage at all, but an infected would just feel like crap all the time and sometimes attempt to eat people. But it would still retain most of it's intelligence, I am guessing, in which case I would just give all the zombies(which aren't really zombies cause they can still think like humans, their primal urges are just greater)shock collars that the person traveling with them could activate if the infected individual attempted to eat somebody. Of course, whether this plan will work depends entirely on what the virus does to the zombie, and how it affects their bodies/brain.

But furthermore, what would the cure do? Would it kill the virus, or return a zombie back into a normal human being? Because if it's the former, the zombies would be so mentally and physically deteriorated that it would be impossible for them to function as humans again. However if it's the latter, then the virus itself can't do that much damage.

 

[Deadarm]

Whats sad about the whole idea is there is always going to be a group of radical human rights people who would break in and let all the contained zombies loose... so containment is something that should be guarded by the MPs since the humans who think they know what they are doing rarely do. (look at vegitarians they eat the solution instead of the problem)

Heres another thought, would wanted felons still be able to be prosecuted if they became zombies? I say yes because they were aware of what they were doing at the time, but they may or may not be held accountable due to their condition.

 

[nova18]

Segregating zombies does lead to questionable civil rights.
Assuming that the zombies HAVE rights according to the new government laws, they would legally be allowed to share public transport or any other public property.

Yet this poses a danger to non-zombies.
Creating an ethical dilemna of persecuting one group to ensure the safety of another.


Verrryy nice thread, but at this time of night I have nothing substantial to contribute.

 

[Labyrinth]

*Snip*

The difference between zombies and an ethnic minority is that zombies have no way to communicate and no way to make logical decisions. This can be scientifically demonstrated for any infected.

To counteract the Salem effect there would be a test to see whether someone is infected. Individual holding cells would be set up and if someone wasn't a zombie within 24 hours they'd be released. That number would be adjusted according to how the zombiefication manifested. If it showed within 5 minutes, that would be all the time needed, though a good hour would be used for precaution. Deliberate hunting of zombies would be illegal. Hence where the 'self defence' comes into play. If someone, or a group of people went out into a part of town identified as high-risk and shot a bunch of zombies that wouldn't be self defence.

As for the issue of who pays for the zombie care and, in the event of a cure the issue of employment, taxes would need to be raised in the short term and any zombies who died without wills or family would have their property seized for additional funds. Charities too.

 

[Snotnarok]

Zombies have no rights, they're dead, dead people's only legal rights are not to be raped/dug up/pillaged and plundered. There is no law against killing walking dead and the notion of such is insanity, you're talking about a plague, plagues get quarantined and killed as fast as possible.

I'd imagine you getting rewards for killing zombies if the event ever came up.

I'd like to play along but I have a bad history with Zombies, they ate my neighbors, they invaded my mansion, they tried to sandwich my Jill and they MAUL ME in Left 4 Dead.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

Fuck your rules. Zombies deserve nothing more than a quick bullet in the brain. A person loses their rights the instant they become zombie. And, a cure for the zombie virus is impossible and even if it were, how would you effectively distrubute it? It's not as though you could ask a zombie to lie down on a table and give them a lolli when you're done giving them their shot. But, since I can't "kill" them, I'll "neutralize" the threat by "eliminating" them and then deny the whole thing ever happened much like the government has done with Area 51.

 

[wikicated]

set aside a small community for said infected with its own rules and regulations. basically nazi ghettos minus the evil(deathshowers mass graves etc)fences might be good. so just zombie ghettos.

 

[Labyrinth]

Fuck your rules. Zombies deserve nothing more than a quick bullet in the brain. A person loses their rights the instant they become zombie. And, a cure for the zombie virus is impossible and even if it were, how would you effectively distrubute it? It's not as though you could ask a zombie to lie down on a table and give them a lolli when you're done giving them their shot. But, since I can't "kill" them, I'll "neutralize" the threat by "eliminating" them and then deny the whole thing ever happened much like the government has done with Area 51.

This is an intellectual exercise to experiment with the Catch-22 nature of these issues. If you have nothing to add, add nothing.

 

[johnzaku]

Mind if I use this next time I'm at a presidential debate?

 

[Cozcatzin]

Zombies have no rights, they're dead, dead people's only legal rights are not to be raped/dug up/pillaged and plundered. There is no law against killing walking dead and the notion of such is insanity, you're talking about a plague, plagues get quarantined and killed as fast as possible.

I'd imagine you getting rewards for killing zombies if the event ever came up.

I'd like to play along but I have a bad history with Zombies, they ate my neighbors, they invaded my mansion, they tried to sandwich my Jill and they MAUL ME in Left 4 Dead.

But how do we KNOW that they are dead? They're still moving around, aren't they? How do we know that there is no shred of conscience left within the living dead? Maybe it's there, locked in the back of the mind somewhere. Maybe we are all Zombies already and we should be preparing to survive the coming Human Infection!

 

[Snotnarok]

Do they have a heart beat? No. Are they rotting, yes, are they showing any signs of conscious thought? No. Are they attacking everyone that is alive? Yes. Zombies are NOT alive. It is a parasite that has taken the corpse of a human for means of spreading itself.


Conclusion: There is no reason to risk life and limb for a possibility of a living person being inside a zombie, because even if you did the thought of being brought back to life into a rotting body doesn't fill me with hope and joy, I'd rather be shot and killed. I'd be the humane thing to do since half of my internal organs are filled with holes from rotting.