Arguably one of the funniest movies about fraternity membership in college is "National Lampoon's Animal House". This 1978 movie portrayed a story about fraternity life and the antics of its members. During one of the many funny scenes in the movie, actor Kevin Bacon is a pledge (a trial member of a fraternity attempting to "earn" membership") who is about to become a full fledged member of his fraternity. One of the last tasks that he has to endure is getting paddled. After each whack from the paddle, he tells his paddler "Thank you sir, may I have another." Clearly from his facial expressions and tone of voice, his character is not enjoying the experience and is in fact experiencing pain.
Is this hazing or just a group of young adults giving their consent to be paddled as a price to be paid for membership in an organization? Regardless of whether you believe this to be hazing or just college fun that builds bonds of friendship and evolves into good memories for the participants, Florida law provides guidance concerning this question.
The Florida legislature defines hazing as
any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating under the sanction of a postsecondary institution. "Hazing" includes, but is not limited to, pressuring or coercing the student into violating state or federal law, any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or other forced physical activity that could adversely affect the physical health or safety of the student, and also includes any activity that would subject the student to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct that could result in extreme embarrassment, or other forced activity that could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the student.
Based on this very broad definition, clearly the antics of the fraternity in Animal House fell under the definition of hazing in Florida.
The penalties for hazing in Florida range from expulsion from school or other organizations up to and including being a convicted felon and serving up to five years in prison. In addition to these penalties, a person accused of hazing can also be charged for any other offense that constituted the offense of hazing. For example, in the paddling example, the person who hit the person with the paddle could also be charged with battery. In the event great bodily harm was caused, the felony of aggravated battery could be charged. In extreme cases where a person accidentally dies, a person could be charged with murder. Unlike our reaction to the funny antics in Animal House, this is no laughing matter.
Fast forward to today's news and we sadly see that hazing is not necessarily limited to just fraternity members. The sad reality is that hazing occurs in many different organizations. Case in point is the investigation that is currently being conducted in the wake of the death of Robert Champion, the drum major in FAMU's marching band. The investigation seems to indicate that hazing played a significant role in Mr. Champion's death. Four students have been expelled from school. The band is no longer performing and its band director has been fired.
Parents, I strongly encourage you to discuss with your son or daughter what hazing is and why it is wrong. Young adults do not always appreciate the consequences of their actions. A young person's perception of what is good clean fun can have unintended consequences socially, academically and criminally. Hazing occurs for man reasons. Peer pressure plays a significant role in why it occurs. I do not believe that any young man or woman wants to inflict pain and humiliation on people that they want to be friends with. However, the culture surrounding many organizations is very bi-polar. On the one hand many organizations have written policies stating that they are anti-hazing. The reality is that despite the written policies and the education that its membership receives, the unwritten rules regarding social attitudes about hazing suggest that it occurs frequently and to varying degrees among different types of organizations. As a member of a fraternity, I know first hand the pressures that exist within the membership to haze and the efforts to resist those temptations.
In the event that you or someone you know is facing accusations of hazing, it is extremely important that this young person seek my advices prior to discussing their case with officials from a school or the police. What a young person says to officials investigating allegations of hazing can greatly impact that young person's future. I can provide protection to a young person that is unique due to the nature of the attorney client relationship. No privilege exists for a parent child relationship. Parents or trusted friends naturally want to know what happened and often times insist on knowing from the accused. Despite great intentions, parents and trusted friends can inadvertently become witnesses against the very person that they are trying to help.
If you are a member of an organization that hazes, you should reconsider how important the organization is to you. If you are facing an accusation of hazing, please do yourself a favor and call me at 407-834-5297. I am an expert in the criminal trial process in Florida and my fifteen plus years of experience will be able to provide you with invaluable counsel.