---
created_at: '2014-05-25T00:50:17.000Z'
title: The Perfect Crime (2005)
url: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=691642
author: rplas
points: 43
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---
[Source](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=691642 "Permalink to The Perfect Crime by Brian C. Kalt :: SSRN")

# The Perfect Crime by Brian C. Kalt :: SSRN

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# The Perfect Crime

[ Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 93, No. 2, 2005][26]

MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 02-14

15 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2005 Last revised: 13 Aug 2017

## [Brian C. Kalt][27]

Michigan State University College of Law

Date Written: 2005

### Abstract

This article argues that there is a 50-square-mile swath of Idaho in which one can commit felonies with impunity. This is because of the intersection of a poorly drafted statute with a clear but neglected constitutional provision: the Sixth Amendment's Vicinage Clause. Although lesser criminal charges and civil liability still loom, the remaining possibility of criminals going free over a needless technical failure by Congress is difficult to stomach. No criminal defendant has ever broached the subject, let alone faced the numerous (though unconvincing) counterarguments. This shows that vicinage is not taken seriously by lawyers or judges. Still, Congress should close the Idaho loophole, not pretend it does not exist. 

**Keywords:** Juries, Venue, Vicinage,Sixth Amendment, Federal lands, Criminal law, Criminal procedure, Constitutional law

**JEL Classification:** K10, K14, K19

**Suggested Citation:** [Suggested Citation__][25]

Kalt, Brian C., The Perfect Crime (2005). MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 02-14. Available at SSRN: <https://ssrn.com/abstract=691642>

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### [Brian C. Kalt (Contact Author)][28]

#### Michigan State University College of Law ( [email][29] )

318 Law College Building  
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300  
United States  
517-432-6987 (Phone)  
517-432-6879 (Fax)  

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