Idaho legislator asks U.S. Congress to close Yellowstone's 'zone of death' loophole

[TexasTowelie]

It’s called the “zone of death,” a 50 square-mile section of Yellowstone National Park adorned with meadows and waterfalls — home to grizzly bears but no people — tucked inconspicuously within Idaho.

Supposedly, according to the 2005 Georgetown Law Journal article “The Perfect Crime,” it’s a place where a poorly worded law and a constitutional problem collide, creating a place “where one might commit felonies with impunity,” Michigan State University law professor Brian C. Kalt wrote in the law journal article.

The whole thing sounds a little bit like it could be the plot of an episode of the television series “Yellowstone,” but an Idaho legislator is asking Congress to get involved in real life and close the alleged legal loophole.

Rep. Colin Nash, D-Boise, is sponsoring House Joint Memorial 3, which calls on Congress to close the zone of death loophole.

The issue has to do with the fact that nobody lives within that 50 square-mile section of Yellowstone located in Idaho, according to the 2020 census. The fact nobody lives there could become a problem if a criminal defendant on trial for, say, a murder or kidnapping that took place in that precise area, evoked their Sixth Amendment right to be tried in front of a jury from the state and district where the crime occured.

Read more: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2022/02/03/idaho-legislator-asks-u-s-congress-to-close-yellowstones-zone-of-death-loophole/

[nykym]

1. If you think about it

it all makes little sense.
if no one lives there there is no one to commit a crime.
If you kidnap someone and bring them there to kill them, the crime originated where the kidnapping occurred.

And if you go there to commit a crime you're just fu*king stupid it's full of hungry grizzly's waiting for an after dinner treat.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Yes, but what if someone is kidnapped from the park?

What about those operating a vehicle inside the park while intoxicated that kills someone?

[2naSalit]

3. Thousands of tourists go there each year...

With the way the behave in the park these days, it's just a matter of time, someone is going to kill someone eventually. Back when it was rarely visited, a bear could have taken care of the evidence so nobody would have known anyway.