Well yes: inside the wonderful Yellowstone National Parkin United States of Americathere is aarea of 130 km2defined as “Death zone” or “Zones of Death”, which features a “conflict” of jurisdiction because of which one could theoretically commit a crime – even a homocide – without being criminally liable. But let’s go step by step. Let’s start from the context: the Park.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is a naturalistic park that extends largely in the northwestern part of the state of Wyoming and in some parts of Montana and Idaho. It’s one protected areapart of the world heritage ofUNESCO and takes its name from the river of the same name, Lo Yellowstonewhich was called “yellow rock”, also perhaps due to the color of the rocks of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Park, which has an extension of almost 9,000 square km, from a naturalistic point of view it presents a very varied landscape: rivers, canyons, lakes and even mountain ranges, with a large inactive volcano.
Zones of Death: how is it possible not to be criminally liable?
Inside the Park, as we said at the beginning, there is the so-called Zones of Death. The area in question, of 130 square kmis part of the section of the Park within the State of Idaho – so a person accused of a crime committed in this area should be tried there – even though from a legal point of view the competent District Court is that of the State of Wyoming. The legal knot that creates an impasse lies in the Sixth Amendment from the US Constitutionaccording to which every individual has the right to be tried with one jury composed of citizens of the competent State and of the District where the crime was committed. What’s unique about this part of Yellowstone in Idaho is that it has no permanent residents: the last census carried out was in fact equal to 0. Therefore, in the case of a crime and a trial, there would beimpossibility of forming a jury. It is through this legal loophole that a hypothetical defendant could escape prosecution, even in cases of serious crimes such as‘homocide. This peculiarity was discovered in 2005 by Michigan State University law professor Brian Kaltduring research on the so-called “gray areas” of American lawparticularly with reference to the Sixth Amendment. Kalt published an article by the name The perfect crimenot before having informed and alerted Congress and the competent judicial bodies. In fact, however, the unpunishability of the Death Zone is avery distant hypothesisprimarily because the “Death Zone” is a very remote and almost inaccessible area, with no roads.
What the US Constitution and the Sixth Amendment say
Under US law, the administration of justice is divided into federal districtsi.e. areas corresponding to a State with its own court system. Crimes committed must be judged and tried within the State in which they are committed. The Sixth Amendment of the Constitutionhowever, adds an important point: every citizen has the right to one jurymade up of citizens residing in that State and in the district in which the crime was committed.
“In every criminal trial, the accused shall have the right to a public and prompt trial, by an impartial jury of persons of the State and district in which the crime was committed; which district shall be previously determined by law; and shall have the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; To be confronted with the texts against him; To have mandatory tools to obtain testimony in one’s favor, and to have the assistance of a lawyer for one’s defense.”
And it is precisely on this that the crux and the “grey area” of Yellowstone Park are built.
