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<P align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=203262722-10052005>Dan, I
think dirt bikes are illegal in Yellowstone, but if the article is correct, have
at it!</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </P>
<P align=left>The “zone of death” that motivated this Essay sits at the
perimeter of Yellowstone</P>
<P align=left>National Park. The problem with Yellowstone is that it does not
quite fit in Wyoming: Nine</P>
<P align=left>percent of the park overflows into Montana (about 260 square miles
worth) and Idaho (about 50</P>
<P align=left>square miles). The park was established in 1872, well before the
three states were added to the</P>
<P align=left>Union in 1889 and 1890.<FONT size=1>14 </FONT>When the states were
admitted, each ceded exclusive jurisdiction of</P>
<P align=left>its portion of Yellowstone to the federal government.<FONT
size=1>15 <SPAN class=203262722-10052005> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=3>Yellowstone is a federal enclave, in other</FONT></P>
<P align=left>words, and the states cannot enforce state law there.<FONT
size=1>16</FONT></P>
<P align=left>This makes the District of Wyoming the only district court that
includes land in</P>
<P align=left>multiple states.<FONT size=1>20</P></FONT>
<P align=left>From an administrative standpoint, this may be an uncommonly
sensible law. But the</P>
<P align=left>issue is not whether the law is wise; rather<FONT color=#191919>,
</FONT>it is whether it is incompatible with the United States</P>
<P align=left>Constitution. And it is.</P>
<P align=left>Say that you are in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone, and you
decide to spice up your</P>
<P align=left>vacation by going on a crime spree. You make some moonshine, you
poach some wildlife, you</P>
<P align=left>strangle some people and steal their picnic baskets. You are
arrested, arraigned in the park, and</P>
<P align=left>bound over for trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming before a jury drawn from
the Cheyenne area.<FONT size=1>21 </FONT>But</P>
<P align=left>Article III, <FONT color=#191919>Section </FONT>2 plainly requires
that the trial be held in Idaho, the state in which the crime</P>
<P align=left>was committed. Perhaps if you fuss convincingly enough about it,
the case would be sent to</P>
<P align=left>Idaho. But the Sixth Amendment <FONT color=#191919>then
</FONT>requires that the jury be from the state (Idaho) and the</P>
<P align=left>district (Wyoming) in which the crime was committed. In other
words, the jury would have to be</P>
<P align=left>drawn from the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park, which,
according to the 2000</P>
<P align=left>Census, has a population of precisely zero.<FONT size=1>22
</FONT>(The Montana portion—should you choose to</P>
<P align=left>rampage there—has an adult population of a few dozen, which might
nevertheless present Sixth</P>
<P align=left>Amendment problems as well.<FONT size=1>23</FONT>)</P>
<P align=left>The Constitution entitles you to a jury trial <FONT
color=#191919>and </FONT>an impartial jury <FONT color=#191919>of inhabitants
</FONT>of the</P>
<P align=left>state and district where the crime was committed. The U.S. Code
steps on the rusty nail; it makes</P>
<P align=left>it impossible to satisfy both provisions in the case of the
Yellowstone State-Line Strangler.</P>
<P align=left>Assuming that you do not feel like consenting to trial in
Cheyenne, you should go free.</P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>**********************************************<BR>Ron
Force Moscow ID
83844 </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2> <A href="mailto:rforce@moscow.com">rforce@<SPAN
class=203262722-10052005>moscow.com</A></SPAN><BR>**********************************************</FONT>
</P>
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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000 size=2><SPAN
class=140355921-10052005>where's this 50 square miles and how do I get my dirt
bike there?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000 size=2><SPAN
class=140355921-10052005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000 size=2><SPAN
class=140355921-10052005>DC</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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