Georgia Anti-Hazing Bill would Strengthen Penalty for a Violent Crime

We’re all for the Georgia legislature’s plan to toughen the state’s anti-hazing law. Local reports say lawmakers began work this past week on a bill that Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, filed several months before Robert Champion, a Florida A&M University drum major from DeKalb County, died after a hazing incident.

State law already makes hazing a misdemeanor. Wilkinson’s bill says anyone convicted of hazing “shall not be eligible to enroll in or attend” a school or college.The bill has a long way to go before it becomes law, and reports say that in the end it may prohibit enrollment after a second conviction.

Current law (G.S. 16-5-61) makes it “unlawful for any person to haze any student in connection with or as a condition or precondition of gaining acceptance, membership, office, or other status in a school organization.” Further, “‘Haze’ means to subject a student to an activity which endangers or is likely to endanger the physical health of a student, regardless of a student’s willingness to participate in such activity.”

The Champion case has brought a much-needed spotlight on this violent crime since the 26-year-old student collapsed and died on a university band bus in Orlando last November, allegedly during a hazing incident.

The Florida state medical examiner later declared that Champion’s death was a homicide, according to the New York Times. Two of his fellow students were charged with hazing and battery, and a third was charged with hazing.

Whether it’s an organized ritual or a street mugging, assault is a serious crime. When it is the cause of catastrophic injury or a wrongful death, it raises complex legal questions.

At the Millar & Mixon law firm in Atlanta, we represent crime victims throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area and the state of Georgia. Our crime victim attorneysbelieve strongly in seeking civil damages where appropriate in case of violent crime.

For help with Georgia personal injury claims, call Millar & Mixon today at 678-999-2728 or contact us online for a free evaluation of your case.