The truth behind the US 'zone of death' where there are no laws

There’s a part of the United States that is essentially lawless and it’s nicknamed the “zone of death”, but how did it come about?

While America is home to some strange rules, like the shocking Texas law that allowed a man to kill his wife’s lover under one condition, it may surprise people to know that there is a small part in one of the most populated countries in the world that is lawless.

It might sound like something out of The Purge, but the 50 square miles “zone of death” is real and located in Yellowstone National Park, accessed by one narrow road that is the only way in and the only way out.

Yellowstone is mostly located in the state of Wyoming, but parts of it stray into neighbouring Idaho and Montana.

In 2015, law professor Brian Kalt discovered the zone in a section of the park’s overlap in Idaho and has called on the government to take action.

Kalt coined the “zone of death” nickname due to legal technicalities that mean it’s almost impossible to be tried for a crime committed there.

That is because, in the United States, suspected criminals can either be prosecuted by the state or the federal government, but it is different in Yellowstone. This is because the entire area can only be prosecuted by the federal government. Despite the park’s overlaps, the whole area was given to Wyoming.

For crimes committed in the park, a trial jury has to be made up of people from the state in which it was committed, and the district.

But, because there are no people living inside the “zone of death”, it is impossible to get a jury together.

This issue was laid bare when a man illegally poached an elk in the Montana section of the park. Because so few people live there, the courts were unable to get a jury together, so the defendant was offered a reduced sentence by the judge.

So, while the area is not completely lawless, it would certainly become a bit of a head scratcher for legal experts should something extremely sinister occur there.

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