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Hazing Laws
44 states have laws prohibiting hazing. Every state has a law prohiting the intentional, negligent, or reckless injury of another person. Many of those hazing laws, Florida included, specifically state that the "victim's" consent is not a defense. Why?
We tell every prospective member that we do not haze. This creates in the mind of that person a belief that we will not hurt them. We also tell them that they must trust us. The combination of a promise and the requirement to trust results in a reliance that no harm will come.
Civil courts in many parts of the country have also opined that one cannot "consent" to a harmful activity when in the process of trying to fit in, be a part of the group, and proving oneself.
The bottom line is that no matter what you or I may believe SHOULD be allowed, hazing is prohibited by every campus, every glo and the civil laws of every state and the criminal laws of most.
Judge Mitch Crane
Sigma Phi Epsilon
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