Students Jailed Under Hazing Law

[MrAtlanta]

Students Jailed Under Hazing Law

Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007

By AP

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Two collegiate fraternity brothers received a two-year prison term each Monday from a judge who said she wanted to send a message with the state's first prosecution under a felony hazing law.

Florida A&M University students Michael Morton, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, and Jason Harris, 25, of Jacksonville, were led from the courtroom in handcuffs, as was Harris' lawyer, Richard Keith Alan II, who was charged with indirect criminal contempt.

The students were charged with hazing Marcus Jones, 20, of Decatur, Ga., who suffered a broken ear drum and severe bruising to his buttocks after he was punched and struck with wooden canes.

Morton was accused of paddling Jones while Harris urged the pledge to take the paddling and revived him when he passed out.

Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker said that one year might have been sufficient to punish Morton and Harris but that she added a second year to make sure that their sentences serve as a deterrent.

A jury in December convicted both under the new law, which makes it a felony to participate in hazing that results in serious bodily injury.

They could have from 12 months to five years under sentencing guidelines.

It was the second trial for Morton, Harris and three other Kappa Alpha Psi members. The first jury was unable to reach a verdict for any of the five defendants after raising questions about serious bodily injury, which is not defined in the law. The second jury also was unable to reach a verdict for the other three defendants, and they are to be tried a third time in March.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...583571,00.html

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I agree with the sentence handed down by the judge. This particular hazing was way over the top in my opinion.

It is possible to haze a pledge without punching or beating him. I was once paddled during a period of hazing while I was in college, but I was NEVER hit or punched like this poor guy was. During my second year in school, I was THE ONE doing the hazing/paddling to new pledges, but I never got carried away with it. This whole thing was stupid and unnecessary.

[Baba Ahmed]

Im definitely not a frat brutha of any sort; I'm concerned that it takes a criminal court to step into an area older frat bruthas and soros should oversee and by now, damnit, have not put a stop to this madness. Admittedly there are some gruelling obstacles to overcome in Afrikan rites of passages; but that's in Afrika on Afrikan lands. This is America, whose many frats indeed are Greek laden'd.

I sympathize with the misguided yung bruthas; maybe they will learn a lesson. Man I betcha their parents are pissed to a max!

2 Years seems exessive.

[urfan2c]

I agree with it, they are not suppose to haze. Even tho some still do which is ok if it doesn't go tooooooooo far. They need to stick with the mental aspect and not physical.

[Baba Ahmed]

Yeah - that's how the "game's" played in Amerikkka and the higher ups need to be sued, too. Frat men know what's go n on. As a freshman, I watched closely how pledgee's (sp?) were treated; was enough for me to say no way. I didn't need to be enslaved to bcome a get down brutha. Like its said above organize mental, psychological/spiritual tests. Yes there needs to be physical tests also. But that can come through the teaching of some form of martial arts. Now there're Afrikan forms; e.g., capoeria. Since they booze so damn heavily capoeria teaches'em to appear drunk; but they'd be "drunken" dangerous weapons against a fool.

What good are elders if they don't, in their own lives, guide the youth properly. This ain't nothing new, this hazing b.s. Not new at all. A boy does not bcome manly via vicious paddling on his butt, waist, etc. That's humiliating! Seasoning ala antebellum times.