Charlottesville Rag “The Hook” Throws Another Punch At JADE

School rule: 1,000 feet add felony drug charge
By: Lisa Provence
Published: Nov 11, 2009

“Of the eight alleged drug dealers arrested by the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force recently, three of the suspects picked up additional felony charges for allegedly plying their trade within a legal buffer zone around a school -- in one case, the University of Virginia.”

“JADE’s Lieutenant Don Campbell would not release the exact location at which the out-of-towners were arrested, but he says the proximate school is Woodbrook Elementary and that JADE knew the distance was less than 1,000-feet because Albemarle police told them.

‘We wouldn’t have charged it if it wasn’t right,’ says Campbell.”

“‘The question the community might be concerned with is if you don’t know a school is within 1,000 feet, should you be punished twice?’ asks [Public Defender Jim] Hingeley. He points out that while the statute is designed to punish dealers who sell drugs to kids, it also ensnares those who have no intention of selling to students.”

Full story.