The Crime of Hazing in Maryland

Hazing has been in the news quite a lot in the last few months with the allegations of hazing at the University of Maryland fraternities and sororities. As widely reported, hazing at some fraternities involved initiates who were assaulted and paddled, forced to do endless and exhausting exercises like wall sits, planks, and push-ups, were burned with cigarettes and torches, forced to lie on nails, forced to drink potentially deadly amounts of alcohol, and to consume things like live fish, chewing tobacco, and urine. The University took action, suspended a large number of Greek Life organizations, and undertook serious investigations. Students were expelled, and some fraternities were banned or suspended. See the CBS media report here.

Much of the activity and behavior alleged in the University of Maryland case would constitute crimes under the Maryland Criminal Code. As a crime, if convicted, hazing makes the accused guilty of a misdemeanor and subjects the accused to imprisonment for up to six months or a fine of up to $500 or both. Under Maryland criminal law, hazing is different than what is often defined as hazing by colleges and universities. For the criminal law, the key elements of hazing involve

• Reckless or intentional
• Acts or behavior that creates a situation that
• Causes a risk of serious bodily injury
• To a “student”
• For the purpose of initiating the student into a student organization of a school, college, or university

As can be seen, if proven true, the University of Maryland allegations would be sufficient to prove hazing as a crime. Note that, under Maryland criminal law, consent is not a defense to the crime, even if the consent is knowing, voluntary, and explicit. See Md. Crim. Code, §3–607.

Defenses

Various criminal defenses can be raised based on the definition listed in Maryland’s criminal code. Thus, if the target of the hazing was not a student or there was no risk of serious bodily harm, then either of those would defeat the prosecutor’s case. Likewise, if the purpose of the alleged hazing was not for some initiation or some initiation into a student organization of a school, There may be other defenses too, like alibi, misidentification of the alleged perpetrator, etc.

Other crimes too

It must also be said that many of the actions listed above can also be deemed as other types of crimes like assault and battery, false imprisonment, extortion, sexual crimes (depending on the facts), etc. Some of those crimes might have consent as a defense, but a good criminal defense becomes more difficult to prepare for as more crimes are charged.

How hazing as a crime is different than hazing at universities and colleges

For most colleges and universities, hazing is more broadly defined and is not limited to students or to acts/behaviors that have the potential to inflict serious bodily harm. So, for example, the University of Maryland’s anti-hazing policies include acts or behavior that might cause emotional distress, humiliation, degradation, or diminished physical or mental capacity (like forcing a pledge member to drink alcohol). Hazing is also defined as creating harm from “unreasonable requirements which interfere with a student’s ability to function as a student, including financial requirements outside of membership dues.”

Other universities go even further. For example, the University of Colorado, Boulder, has a similar definition of hazing and then defines “subtle hazing” as “activities or behaviors that emphasize a power imbalance between new members and other members of the group or team or organization.”

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Criminal Defense lawyers. Our address is 11701 Central Ave, Waldorf, MD 20601.