What’s next for Yellowstone’s ‘Zone of Death’? A totally lawless patch of land

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Every time there’s a high profile disappearance in that area — and there’s been a few in the last two years — it’s just always in the back of my mind that there’s this legal positing that would make it difficult to seat a constitutionally legitimate jury to try a person who committed a crime in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone,” Mr Nash said. open image in gallery Recent notable disappearances near Yellowstone, including that of Gabby Petito, the young woman killed by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie near Grand Teton National Park, caught the attention of people across the world “There were a couple of joking nays, people who expressed interest in exploiting the loophole for themselves, but other than that, people just find it interesting to hear about,” Mr Nash said. open image in gallery The so-called “Zone of Death” spans about 50 miles in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Parl Mr Kalt said that the prompting of a state legislature as opposed to that of a single academic could finally urge Congress to rectify this peculiarity and put the area of Yellowstone in Idaho in the jurisdiction of District Court of Idaho and the area of the park in Montana in the District Court of Montana. “I see no legal problems with returning this portion of Yellowstone to Idaho’s judicial district,” Mr Nash said, “so why not close this loophole so we don’t run afoul of the Constitution should a crime need to be prosecuted there?” Mr Kalt, the original expert, said that the Idaho legislature taking up the case could be a notable step in that direction.