Zone of Death (legal)
The Yellowstone Zone of Death is the name given to the 50 sq mi (129.50 km2) Idaho section of Yellowstone National Park in which, as a result of a purported loophole in the Constitution of the United States, a criminal could theoretically get away with any crime, up to and including murder.[1][2][3][4][5]
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Loophole
The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming is currently the only United States district court to have jurisdiction over parts of multiple states. This is due to the fact that its jurisdiction includes all of Yellowstone National Park, which extends slightly beyond Wyoming's boundaries into Idaho and Montana. In addition, the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over the park, so crimes committed in the park cannot be prosecuted under any of the states' laws.
Trials in the district court are normally held at the federal courthouse in Cheyenne, Wyoming. However, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution decrees that juries in federal criminal cases must be made up of citizens who are from both the district and state where the crime was committed. Because of this, charges for a crime alleged to have been committed in the area of the park in Idaho would have to be tried before a jury consisting entirely of residents of that area, and the trial would also have to take place in that area.[6] As the Idaho portion of the park has no courthouses and is uninhabited, no such jury could be assembled. Thus the defendant would be unable to have a fair trial, and could not receive legal punishment for any alleged crimes.[7][6]
Discovery
The constitutional loophole in this area was discovered by Michigan State University law professor Brian C. Kalt while he was planning to write an essay about technicalities of the Sixth Amendment, which entitles citizens to a fair and quick trial. Kalt wondered about a hypothetical place where there were not enough eligible citizens to form a jury and theorized that there could be no trial and therefore no punishment for major crimes in that area. He later realized that there was such a place: the Idaho section of Yellowstone National Park. Horrified by his realization, Kalt shifted his focus to writing an essay about the area to persuade the government to fix the loophole. The essay, which is called "The Perfect Crime", was published in 2005 in the Georgetown Law Journal.[6] Kalt feared that criminals might read the essay and commit a crime in the Zone before the loophole was fixed.[8]
History
After Kalt discovered the loophole, he worked to have the government close it.[9] He suggested to lawmakers in Wyoming that the Zone of Death be included as part of the federal district court for the District of Idaho instead of the Wyoming district, which would fix the issue. However, the lawmakers ignored Kalt's suggestion. In 2007, author C. J. Box wrote a novel called Free Fire that featured the Zone, which Box hoped would increase governmental awareness.[10] The novel did succeed in alerting Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi to the issue. However, Enzi was unable to convince Congress to discuss it.[8]
No known felonies have been committed in the Zone of Death since Kalt's discovery. However, a poacher named Michael Belderrain illegally shot an elk in the Montana section of Yellowstone. While that section of the park does have enough residents to form a jury, it might be difficult to put together a standing and fair one due to travel or unwillingness of members of the small population there to serve. A federal judge ruled that Belderrain could be tried in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, despite the Sixth Amendment problem. Belderrain cited Kalt's paper "The Perfect Crime" to explain why he believed it was illegal to have his trial with a jury from a state other than where the crime was committed. The court dismissed this argument,[11] Belderrain took a plea deal, and the issue was left unresolved.[12]
References
- Therriault, Ednor (December 2018). Myths and Legends of Yellowstone. Bowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781493032150. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- Zint, Bradley (22 April 2016). "'Population Zero,' debuting at film festival, explores the Zone of Death". latimes.com. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- "Murder in majestic Yellowstone". The Denver Post. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- "MSU LAW PROFESSOR DISCUSSES YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK'S "ZONE OF DEATH": Michigan State University College of Law". law.msu.edu. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- Andrews, Robin (26 November 2017). "A Legal Loophole Might Let You Get Away With Murder In Yellowstone". Forbes. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- Kalt, Brian C. (2005). "The Perfect Crime". Georgetown Law Journal. 93: 675.
- Kerry, Wolfe. "Yellowstone's Zone of Death". Atlas Obscura.
- "Inside Yellowstone's 'Zone of Death' Crimes Can't Be Prosecuted". HowStuffWorks. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
- Kalt, Brian C. (2008). "Tabloid Constitutionalism: How a Bill Doesn't Become a Law". Georgetown Law Journal. 96: 1971, 1975–78. SSRN 1136301.
- Box, CJ (2007). Free Fire. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0735211940.
- U.S. v. Belderrain, 309 F. App'x 259 08-8016 (10th Cir. 2009).
- Mandell, Mark (November 10, 2014). "A "Zone of Death" in Yellowstone National Park?". Fausone Bohn, LLP. Retrieved 2019-06-12.