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It’s Possible To Get Away With Murder In Yellowstone National Park
A legal loophole makes it difficult to prosecute crimes
The “Zone of Death” is a 50-square-mile region of Idaho within Yellowstone National Park where a felon can theoretically evade prosecution for crimes, up to and including murder. The reason? There’s a massive legal loophole in the Constitution of the United States.
Let me explain.
The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming has jurisdiction over the entirety of Yellowstone National Park — with parts of it located in Idaho and Montana. But since Yellowstone is under the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction, crimes committed there cannot be punished under state laws.
That sounds simple so far, right?
Get ready for the next part…
The United States Constitution’s Sixth Amendment mandates that jurors in federal criminal prosecutions be composed of residents from both the district and state where the alleged perpetrator committed the offense. But since the “Zone of Death” has a population of zero, nobody would be eligible to participate in the jury for a crime committed in that region.
