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Associated press
A new anti-hazing law brought on by the death of a Penn State student after a night drinking at a fraternity house early last year was signed Friday by the Pennsylvania governor.
Governor Tom Wolf called it "long overdue" as he signed a bill to enact tougher criminal penalties and allow courts to order the confiscation of twin homes where acts of hazing took place.
The law bears the name of Tim Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore student from Readington Township, Hunterdon County. He died from serious head and abdominal injuries after suffering a series of falls in Beta Theta Pi's home in February 2017.
His parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, who became national advocates of hazing efforts, attended the signing ceremony on the Capitol.
"Our young people deserve better and we need to protect them from this rampant criminal behavior," said Piazza.
The law requires schools to maintain anti-hazing policies and criminalize hazing incidents that result in serious injury or death. High schools, colleges and universities are required to report incidents of hazing.
Authorities said that Tim Piazza, who was home Beta Theta Pi for a pledge acceptance ceremony, consumed a quantity of dangerous alcohol before being hurt. during a fall in a basement staircase.
Images of security cameras showed how members of the fraternity have made timid, even counter-productive, efforts to heal their wounds. Piazza spent the night, mostly on a first floor couch, plagued by agony and made other falls.
He finished unconscious in the cellar the next morning. After its discovery, the fraternity members took 40 minutes to call an ambulance. He died the next day in a hospital.
About two dozen members of Beta Theta Pi have been charged with death. Prosecutors have obtained guilty pleas from some of the defendants, while others are expected to be tried early next year.
Eric Barron, president of Penn State, said the law would make a difference.
"The fact that aggravated hazing is a crime is powerful, it is powerful on the side of the police," said Barron.
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The new law defines hazing as conditioning the acceptance by a group of breaking the law; consume food, alcohol or drugs that may cause emotional or physical harm to someone; brutality of a sexual nature; by subjecting them to lashes, blows, marks, callisthenia or extreme weather conditions; or sleep deprivation, "exclusion from social behavior" or extreme discomfort.
It also sets levels for hazing. The least serious incidents are low level violations. A hazing reasonably likely to hurt someone is a crime, while a serious injury or death makes it a crime.
There is a "safe haven" provision that can protect people from lawsuits if they ask for help to victims of hazing incidents.
The Piazza said it hoped the Pennsylvania law would inspire changes in other states.
"Lawmakers have given the justice system the tools to punish this blatant behavior and we can only hope that they will use it so that the law becomes a deterrent to prevent that from happening. other families have to suffer the loss and suffering we have, "they said.
The law comes into force next month.
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