The Yellowstone Zone of Death
Yellowstone National Park contains a 50-square mile "zone of death" where, legal scholars suggest, a person could commit murder without fear of prosecution. This zone is the part of the park that extends into Idaho.
The reason for this free-pass-for-murder lies with the Sixth Amendment which guarantees a defendant the right to a trial by a jury "of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." The zone is in the State of Idaho, but because of the unique legal status of Yellowstone, it's in the judicial District of Wyoming. Therefore, to prosecute anyone a court would need to form a jury of people who live simultaneously in the State of Idaho and the District of Wyoming, and no one fits that bill because no one lives in the Idaho part of Yellowstone. Without being able to create a jury, a trial couldn't proceed.
A similar zone exists in the part of Yellowstone that extends into Montana. However, a few people live there, so a jury could, in theory, be formed from its residents.
This legal loophole was first pointed out in 2005 by Brian Kalt, a professor at Michigan State Law School, in an article published in the Georgetown Law Journal. Kalt urged Congress to pass legislation to fix the loophole before someone tested the loophole by committing murder in the death zone. The simplest fix, he proposed, would be to change the district lines so that the part of Yellowstone in Idaho would be included in the District of Idaho.
To date, Congress has not done anything to fix the problem. Part of the reason for this is political inertia. But there's also resistance to changing the District lines because this would place part of Yellowstone under the jurisdiction of the more liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which, it's feared, environmentalists could use to their advantage. So the "zone of death" remains.
The idea of a legal "zone of death" has naturally appealed to the imaginations of artists. The zone was featured in a best-selling mystery novel, Free Fire, by CJ Box. And in 2016 it became the subject of a film, Population Zero (trailer below).
More info: npr.org, bbc news, vox.com.
Comments
For the time being, if a murder does occur in the death zone, you could simply build a jury composed half and half with persons from Idaho and from the district of Wyoming.
Posted by Yudith on 07/24/16 at 08:58 AM
Damn!! I was just in that Montana zone (I didn't see any people though).
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 07/24/16 at 09:28 PM
Nothing will be done until enough murders occur. Or a Congressman's relative gets a speeding ticket.
Posted by TheCannyScot on 07/24/16 at 09:47 PM
Very few people even visit the Idaho zone (no roads, no buildings, etc.) I've been fishing around there but I doubt I've ever crossed into the park.
As a few blogs have pointed out that, to truly get away with murder, it couldn't be premeditated somewhere else.
If you really want to knock someone off (then get off), there's probably a better (and certainly easier) way.
As a few blogs have pointed out that, to truly get away with murder, it couldn't be premeditated somewhere else.
If you really want to knock someone off (then get off), there's probably a better (and certainly easier) way.
Posted by crc on 07/25/16 at 03:49 AM
No one even knew about it until that slimeball lawyer pointed it out...
Posted by A Nonny Mouse on 07/25/16 at 08:34 AM
Yellowstone N.P. retains exclusive federal jurisdiction over its lands and could use the special territorial and maritime laws provisions to deal with such crimes. But some smart lawyer might just find a way around that. I am not a legal expert.
Posted by Gator Guy on 07/25/16 at 09:42 AM
Best to make friends with the bears in those areas.
Posted by Virtual on 07/25/16 at 10:32 AM
Is this one of those idiot things, like, if the Vice President gets impeached, he presides over his own trial?
Posted by Joshua Zev Levin, Ph.D. on 07/25/16 at 03:12 PM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Category: Crime | Geography and Maps | Law