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State Senators Say Anti-Hazing Law Maybe Be Too Narrow
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio state senators are reviewing the state’s anti-hazing statute amid concerns the law needs to be broadened.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Kevin Bacon, a Minerva Park Republican, says he wants to revisit language that appears to restrict hazing prosecutions to the time of initiation into an organization. He says hazing doesn’t occur only when someone joins a group.
State Sen. Cecil Thomas, a Cincinnati Democrat who serves on the committee, agrees the law should be reviewed.
Their concerns follow the death earlier this year of a Penn State student who was seeking to join a fraternity and a hazing lawsuit filed against the University of Dayton.
The current hazing law classified as a fourth-degree misdemeanor hasn’t been changed since 1983.