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

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/