Yellowstone National Park has a 'death zone' where crime can be committed with impunity

In the United States, there is a 50-square-mile (130 sq. km) "death zone" where you can commit crimes with impunity. The scenario was even described in the popular detective novel "Free Fire" by CJ Box. What is this zone and why everything gets away with it, the publication said Vox.

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There is a zone in Yellowstone National Park that is in Idaho (as opposed to most of the park located in Wyoming). And if you commit a crime there, then you don’t even have to try to hide it, because you can remain completely unpunished.

Under the Sixth Amendment, a defendant is entitled to a jury from the state where the crime was committed (Idaho) and from the federal district where it was committed. But here's the thing - Wyoming County has control of all of Yellowstone, even parts of it in Montana or Idaho. Thus, Daniel is entitled to a jury composed entirely of people living in both Idaho and Wyoming County, that is, people living in the part of Yellowstone. No one lives in the part of Yellowstone in Idaho. A jury cannot be formed, and thus the offender legally remains at large.

This received a lot of attention when such a collision was first pointed out by Michigan law professor Brian Kalt in his 2005 article in the Georgetown Law Journal, The Perfect Crime.

What's more, the "death zone" had a simple solution: Congress could simply pass legislation making parts of Idaho's Yellowstone part of Idaho County. Montana poses less of a problem because a handful of people actually live in its part of Yellowstone and can be called on to serve on juries.

Kalt set about trying to get Congress to do just that. But even nine years later, this Idaho loophole persists. And it's not because Congress just doesn't hear about it. But why did Congress still uphold the "death zone".

Address to Congress

According to Calt's follow-up article in 2008, "Tabloid Constitutionalism: How a Bill Doesn't Become Law," he warned the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney in Wyoming, and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees about the loophole a year before "Perfect Crime" was published.

On the subject: Buildings will collapse and tens of millions will die: what happens if the Yellowstone volcano erupts

He hoped the loophole would be closed before it was published, in case the article encouraged people to try to commit a crime in Yellowstone. He received a response from the US Attorney saying that it was not in his power to change the law, and another response from the House Judiciary Committee, but nothing came of it.

The publication of the article and the subsequent blitz in the press also yielded nothing. Then-Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) promised to look into the matter, but did nothing more. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who is still in office, said through his representative that he does not see the "death zone" as a problem, and stated, "In order to solve this problem, a murder must be committed."

In the spring of 2007, Box's novel was released. It was then that Kalt finally managed to attract attention. Senator Mike Enzi (Republican from Wyoming), a fan of Boxing's work, asked the Department of Justice to look into this issue. They did and concluded that no fixes were needed. The legal argument offered was that trying someone in the wrong state or county amounted to a "harmless mistake". Both Kalt and Enzi believed this was wrong, since the "mistake" in question is a clear violation of the Sixth Amendment right to be tried in the state and county where the crime allegedly occurred, and therefore could hardly be considered "harmless".

But another remark made by the Department of Justice was more important.

“The division of Yellowstone into the district courts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana would divide it between the Ninth and Tenth Districts,” Kalt writes. "Senator Enzi and others were wary of such a turn because it would create a new and unwanted burden if environmentalists could use it to challenge the Park Service's management decisions in the liberal and quirky Ninth District."

Whatever you think about the idea that keeping environmental cases out of the liberal court is worth leaving the "death zone" in place, it's simply not true that fixing the loophole will necessarily spark conflict over Yellowstone. Kalt writes, "There is nothing to prevent Congress from designating the Tenth District as the sole venue for all administrative appeals relating to Yellowstone National Park."

After the follow-up article came out, Senator Mike Lee (D-Utah) was elected, which, for personal reasons, made Kalt optimistic about the situation.

“I know Mike, we used to work together at the same law firm in D.C.,” Calt said. “Not only was he elected to the Senate on a platform of taking the Constitution seriously, he was appointed to the very subcommittee that will be in charge of fixing the loophole. But he was busy with other things."

So far, everything remains the same: officials are too busy resolving more important issues to eliminate the “death zone”.

Real case

After the release of Box's novel, when Kalt was working with Enzi on a potential fix, the loophole actually became an issue for the first time. Michael Belderrain, who illegally shot a moose in Montana in December 2005, cited Kalt's July 2007 article in his defense.

Belderrain was standing on Yellowstone grounds when he fired and dragged the moose head to a truck parked in Yellowstone, so he was charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. He argued that he was entitled to appear before a Montana jury. In fact, this is possible, since the part of Yellowstone in Montana is inhabited, but there are few inhabitants in order to hold a trial.

Rather than attempt to convene such a jury, or present an argument as to why the Sixth Amendment did not give Belderrain the right to such a trial, the court immediately dismissed that argument precisely because it would have implied that Yellowstone had a "death zone."

But there were problems with this solution. The decision concerned Montana, which does not have a "death zone", even if the court accepted Belderrain's arguments because of the people living in the Montana part of Yellowstone. The Court flagrantly ignored the separate right of Section III of the Constitution to be tried in the state where the crime was committed by not moving the trial to Montana.

So, Belderrain will surely appeal and force the courts to decide on this issue once and for all? No. He negotiated a plea deal that included a provision barring him from appealing that particular issue to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He could appeal other issues, but not this one. Thus, the only precedent that exists for the "death zone" is the decision of the local court, which looks terribly wrong.

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“This worries me more than the inaction of Congress, because they had a great opportunity to solve this problem,” Kalt said. “I feel like I did everything I could to prevent it. Therefore, the blood will be on the hands of the government.”

Off the ground

But after a series of high-profile disappearances, Boise Democratic Party spokesman Colin Nash turned to Congress to finally remove the "death zone," writes CBS News.

A group of Idaho lawmakers is recommending that the Legislature ask Congress to fix the legal loophole.

Nash told the House Judiciary and Rules Committee that he first learned about the "death zone" in law school. And now he wants to formally ask Congress to close this loophole.

“I know there hasn't been a single crime that hasn't been prosecuted,” Nash remarked. “But every time there's a high-profile disappearance in the area, I think about it. And last year there were two.

During a months-long search for 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and her younger brother, 7-year-old JJ Vallow, law enforcement officers said they received video and photo evidence that the children entered Yellowstone National Park with mother Lori Vallow-Daybell, but did not no evidence was found that Tylee ever left the park.

The bodies of both children were later found buried in the backyard of their mother's new husband, Chad Daybell, in Idaho.

When Gabby Petito, 22, disappeared last year shortly after calling her family from Grand Teton National Park, which borders Yellowstone, "death zone" theories came to the fore again. Petito's body was found in part of a park in Wyoming, and authorities placed the blame on her boyfriend, Brian Loundry, who was later found dead.

Congress can change the law to make parts of Idaho and Montana Yellowstone under the jurisdiction of the County of Idaho and the County of Montana. Nash wants Congress to do just that, at least for Idaho.

He acknowledged that it is not clear whether Congress will actually do something, as this is a long-standing problem.

“We can try everything we can,” he told the committee.

The committee agreed to recommend to the full House of Representatives that the resolution be approved.

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