COURT UPHOLDS 1,000-FOOT RULE ON DRUG SALES

Drug dealers do not have to be aware they are within 1,000 feet of a
school to be convicted of a crime, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Six justices upheld a Multnomah County conviction of Carl Cortez
Rutley, who argued that prosecutors had to prove under a 1999 law
that he knew a delivery of cocaine was occurring within 1,000 feet of
a school. The incident occurred in 2001.

The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, but the Supreme Court
upheld the conviction.

"In our view, requiring a knowing mental state with regard to the
distance element would work against the obvious legislative purpose,
in that it would create an incentive for drug dealers not to identify
schools," Chief Justice Paul De Muniz wrote for the court.

Justice Virginia Linder did not take part in the decision.