And under this framework, couldn’t zombification be just another entry in the DSM-IV?
First Draft:
666.0 POSTMORTEM ANIMATION DISORDER
Maintenance of certain basic life functions including ambulation, speech, and consumption of food, in the absence of normal cardiovascular function, following a period of age-appropriate cardiovascular function.
A maladaptive pattern of eating the brains of the living, marked by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others to not have their brains eaten.
A decline in cognitive functioning that is not better accounted for by a preexisting, established, or evolved dementia.
The symptoms lead to clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
The symptoms are not better accounted for as a manifestation or consequence of another mental disorder, the direct physiological effects of a substance, or a general medical condition.
Picking up on what **Jacob Wrestling ** said, I just want to add that there is a legal precedent for entities which are not living persons to be considered, for legal purposes, “persons” – namely, corporations, as re-defined by at least a couple of Supreme Court decisions during the Victorian Era. I’ll leave it up to the lawyers to elaborate on this, but it suggests to me that if, say, General Motors has certain rights as a “person,” then why not a zombie which retains even a merest sliver of his or her humanity?
From a legal perspective, Jesus is fucked. Remember, he died. That means that his property passed through his will or through intestacy. He no longer has any claim, regardless of coming back to life.
So potentially: 'tis better to be a zombie than a messiah!
It was a good thing He didn’t have any property. (That dirty, long-haired, hippie with His “my kingdom is not of this world” and “blessed are the peacemakers” commie crap! But I digress…)
Getting back to the problem posed in the OP, what issues are raised if the zombie is a drug or spell-induced “old school” zombie (e.g., those in I Walked with a Zombie or The Serpent and the Rainbow) rather than a “new school” Romero-type (which are technically ghouls)? How would this change things?
What, he carpentered for free? Also (and this is not meant to be disrespectful in any way) is the capitalized “He” and “His” some sort of christian convention I missed? This is the most informative thing I could find through googling.
Being drugged or bewitched? I think that’s probably just going to be incapacity - not something that would cause you to lose legal title of your property.
The more interesting issues, I would think, will arise in Contract. For example, what if you contract to sell a brain in a jar to a drug-induced zombie. You deliver the brain and he eats it. Then the drugs wear off before the zombie pays - and he refuses to honor the contract. Is there legal recourse?
Well, how did you come by the brain? Was it stolen goods, or the result of a murder? Dealing in stolen goods and generally profiting by crime is a no-no, and contracts to do illegal acts are always void. in pari delicto potior est conditio defendentis – between parties both at fault, the defendent is in the better condition. The court will not allow the plaintiff to recover the cash. Zombie get the brains!
Even if the brain was lawfully owned, you also have to ask if, when the contract was formed, the zombie had contractual capacity. Although intoxication does not usually bar contractual capacity, in some extreme cases it could. If one is acting “like a zombie” due to some form of intoxication, I say no contractual capacity.
Thus, no contract is breached, because none was ever formed. In this case, while the plaintiff cannot recover the contract value necessarily, he can recover restitution for the value of the benefit conferred.
I’m not a lawyer, and I’ve never played one on TV. I dated one once many years ago - worst night of my life! But that’s another thread.
OK - here’s a couple of questions:
From my reading of the thread, I understand that the passing of property occurs at the moment of death. OK, take this example: GreatGrandaddy has a heart attack while he’s playing golf. The doctor on the scene declares him dead. They take him to the hospital, and in a last ditch effort, the ER doctors there manage to revive him. What happens to his property? Since he was declared dead does it pass to his estate, or is the point moot since he is obviously alive (and not a zombie), and the original doctor might have made a mistake, because GreatGrandaddy was only mostly dead?
How would the scenario in the OP change if Alice became a vampire instead of a zombie?
Actually, the accurate answer to all Blackacre-type property law questions, but woe betide whoever is foolish enough to put it on an exam, is:
F. Blackacre must be sold, at public auction or whatever other means will prove most profitable and comply with the law of the jurisdiction, to pay the fees of the various lawyers engaged in litigating the title. Any pittance which may remain after they are paid should be distributed to the remaindermen per stirpes, unless someone can be induced to contest, in which case it all goes to the lawyers.
I don’t know if this happens (IANAD) because they stop working on you after somebody declares you “legally dead.”
That said (in keeping with the spirit of this thread), these are almost exactly the issues raised by Cryonics. If you freeze someone right after they die, and then later you revive them … uh? Legal ramifications? It shouldn’t surprise you that there’s all kinds of debate about this stuff, and whether or not you can basically leave a trust for yourself. (Herein lies the dreaded Rule Against Perpetuities nonsense - I’ll leave it for others to discuss, if they so choose).
I’m going to go out on a limb and say, not much. That’s because, I think legally, they would probably both be considered undead.
And Polycarp, IIRC in all 50 states it’s considered malpractice to be involved in any legal transaction involving a property called “Blackacre.” Because you know, or you should know, that some crazy legal shit’s gonna go down.
