Zombies are people too and killing them could have serious legal ramifications says James Daily, an attorney at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and co-author of The Law of Superheroes.
“If a zombie presents an immediate danger and lethal force is necessary, then the zombie could be killed,” Daily explains in the April issue of Playboy. “In some jurisdictions — particularly those without so-called stand your ground laws — one might have an obligation to retreat instead of using lethal force if it could be done safely. With slow-moving, mindless zombies, that might mean a lot of running and not much shooting.”
In The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes proactively kills zombies like “bicycle girl” who was virtually immobile and equally non-threatening child zombies: Summer and Sophia. If a cure is found, Rick might be a dead man walking.
“Since there’s no statute of limitations on murder, it could be prosecuted long after the zombie apocalypse was over,” Daily added.
