What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by Randall Munroe

There’s a famous legal article by law professor Brian C. Kalt arguing that there is a 50-square-mile area of Yellowstone National Park in which people can commit felonies with impunity. The Constitution has clear rules about where juries must come from, but because of a mistake in drawing district lines, prosecuting a crime in this area requires that the jury come from an area with a population of 0. But don’t head out on a crime spree just yet. I asked a federal prosecutor about the “Yellowstone loophole.” He laughed, then said that you would absolutely be prosecuted if you tried to take advantage of it. I brought up the arguments that Professor Kalt made in his article. He replied, and I quote, “Law professors say a lot of stuff.”