Sb 85: Mandatory Reporting of Hazing-related Violations

• Jurisdiction: Georgia,United States
• Publication year: 2022
• Citation: Vol. 38 No. 1

SB 85: Mandatory Reporting of Hazing-Related Violations

Lane McKell
amckell1@student.gsu.edu

Julia Martin
Jmartin155@student.GSU.edu

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CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Crimes Against the Person: Amend Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to Reckless Conduct, so as to Provide for an Expanded Definition of Hazing; Provide for and Revise Definitions; Amend Chapter 1 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Relating to General Provisions regarding Education, so as to Provide for Mandatory Reports of Hazing-Related Violations at Schools in the State; Provide for a Short Title; Provide for Related Matters; Repeal Conflicting Laws; and for Other Purposes.

Code Sections: O.C.G.A. §§ 16-5-61 (amended); 20-1-30 (amended)

Bill Number: SB 85

Act Number: 144

Georgia Laws: 2021 Ga. Laws 206

Summary: The Act expands the definition of "hazing" to include actions subjecting a student to physical endangerment as well as actions coercing the student to engage in behavior that would subject the student to a likely risk of vomiting, intoxication, or unconsciousness. Additionally, the Act imposes a mandatory reporting requirement on Georgia colleges and universities to report hazing-related violations.

Effective Date: July 1, 2021

History

Twenty-nine days into his freshman year of college, eighteen-year-old Maxwell Gruver passed away after a night of alcohol-related hazing at the Louisiana State University's (LSU) Phi

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Delta Theta House.¹ Max's fraternity brothers forced him to drink copious amounts of alcohol in the span of an hour and a half as punishment for incorrectly answering fraternity-related trivia questions and misstating the Greek alphabet.² Max passed out on a couch and died a few hours later with a blood alcohol level of 0.495.³ Max's fraternity brothers noticed his troubled state—labored breathing, skin turning blue, and increasingly faint pulse.⁴ But, no one called for help until it was too late.⁵ Max died from "acute alcohol intoxication with aspiration."⁶

After Max's death at LSU, the Louisiana legislature signed into law a series of anti-hazing bills that (1) imposed increased criminal penalties for hazing activities, (2) required mandatory reporting of hazing activities for collegiate organizations, and (3) mandated anti-hazing education.⁷ Louisiana did not act in isolation. Max's death sparked a national inquiry over "whether existing anti-hazing laws [were] stringent enough" to prevent hazing-related tragedies.⁸

Georgia took part in that inquiry, and State Senator John Albers (R-56th) introduced Senate Bill (SB) 85, the Max Gruver Act, "named in honor and in memory of Max," to crack down on hazing in Georgia.⁹ Senator Albers worked with various collegiate organizations, including fraternity and sorority counsels as well as the Board of Regents, to ensure SB 85 would accomplish its intended purpose.¹⁰ The goal of the bill is to reduce hazing-related incidents, specifically

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on collegiate campuses.¹¹ As Senator Albers expressed, SB 85 will "ultimately save lives and protect our youth."¹²

Senator Albers previously introduced a version of the Max Gruver Act in the 2019-2020 legislative session as House Bill (HB) 423, which passed in the Senate unanimously.¹³ But the bill stalled due to COVID-19's interruption of the General Assembly.¹⁴ In 2021, Senator Albers reintroduced the Max Gruver Act as SB 85.

Bill Tracking of SB 85

Consideration and Passage by the Senate

Senator John Albers (R-56th) sponsored SB 85 in the Georgia State Senate with Senator Brian Strickland (R-17th), Senator Butch Miller (R-49th), Senator John Kennedy (R-18th), Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-52nd), Senator Kay Kilpatrick (R-32nd), and Senator Billy Hickman (R-4th) cosponsoring.¹⁵ The bill was placed in the Senate hopper on February 3, 2021.¹⁶ On February 4, 2021, the Senate read SB 85 for the first time and then referred the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee.¹⁷

The Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported the bill by substitute on February 23, 2021.¹⁸ The substitute included new language that expanded the definition of hazing to not only include actions that result in physical injury but also those that cause mental and emotional distress.¹⁹

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The Senate read SB 85 for the second time on February 24, 2021, and for the third time on February 26, 2021.²⁰ On February 26, 2021, the Senate called SB 85 to the floor for consideration, and Senator Albers, accompanied by Senator Kim Jackson (D-41st), introduced a floor amendment.²¹ The amendment specified that the criminal penalties created by the legislation would only apply to individuals seventeen years of age or older.²² The Senate passed the floor amendment and adopted the bill unanimously by a vote of 49 to 0.²³

Consideration and Passage by the House of Representatives

Representative Mandi Ballinger (R-23rd) carried the bill in the House of Representatives.²⁴ The House first read SB 85 on March 1, 2021, and assigned the bill to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.²⁵

The Committee then began consideration of SB 85 in the House Judiciary Non-Civil Sub-Committee, chaired by Representative Ed Setzler (R-35th).²⁶ The Sub-Committee favorably reported the bill to the full Committee by substitute on March 24, 2021.²⁷

The substitute, drafted by Representative Setzler and Representative Bert Reeves (R-34th) prior to the Committee hearing, reduced SB 85 from nine pages to three pages, removing nearly two-thirds of the bill's substance.²⁸ SB 85 was slimmed down in response to concerns from House members that the bill was "overbroad" and went beyond the

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intended purpose of the legislation.²⁹ When analyzing the bill and the drafter's intent, House members engaged in a "gap analysis" to consider what hazing conduct was not covered by current law.³⁰

Consequently, the Committee members agreed to a substitute bill, which made four core changes to SB 85 as passed by the Senate.³¹ First, the Committee substitute altered the definition of hazing to outlaw activities that could endanger one's physical health, including coercing a student into consuming food, alcohol, or drugs that may result in vomiting, intoxication, or unconsciousness.³² The Committee made this change based on concerns that the original definition, which included activities that would endanger one's mental health, was overly broad and would unduly criminalize the voluntary behavior of adults.³³ Further, the Committee noted that most hazing injuries and deaths involve food, alcohol, or drugs—making it necessary to address hazing that involves substances explicitly listed in the new law.³⁴

Second, the substitute removed the possibility of felony penalties for hazing offenders.³⁵ As passed by the Senate, SB 85 provided that anyone found guilty of hazing would face misdemeanor charges; however, if the hazing incident led to death or serious bodily injury, the offender would be guilty of a felony.³⁶ In other words, the Committee substitute simply struck the possibility of felony penalties and provided that anyone found guilty of hazing would be guilty of a high and aggravated misdemeanor.³⁷

Third, the substitute removed a provision that allowed the Georgia Attorney General to bring a civil action against the local or national fraternity organization when an employee, agent, official, or board member knowingly participated in hazing, failed to intervene in

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hazing, failed to report hazing, or encouraged another not to report hazing within the organization.³⁸ The Committee removed this provision because other civil remedies exist for this kind of tortious conduct, and they were concerned with expanding civil liability for those not participating in the hazing themselves.³⁹

Finally, the Committee substitute removed the "Good Samaritan" immunity for intervening actors in hazing incidents.⁴⁰ This provision, which was modeled after other Good Samaritan laws, would have granted an individual who reports hazing in good faith and in a timely manner complete immunity from administrative, civil, or criminal liability.⁴¹ The House Committee members removed this provision because of "relatively broad protections already [provided] in case law" and the belief that extended immunity was unnecessary after removing the possibility of felony penalties for hazing.⁴²

The full Committee adopted the substitute and favorably reported SB 85 on March 25, 2021.⁴³ On March 29, 2021, the House read SB 85 for the third time and passed the legislation by a vote of 164 to 0.⁴⁴

Final Passage and the Governor's Signature

On March 31, 2021, the Senate agreed to the House substitute by a vote of 51 to 0.⁴⁵ During the final vote, Senator Albers vowed to continue advocating for stricter anti-hazing laws, viewing SB 85 as the "down payment" for the work still to be done.⁴⁶ The Senate sent the bill to the desk of Governor Brian Kemp (R) on April 7, 2021, and the

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Governor signed SB 85 into law as Act 144 on May 3, 2021.⁴⁷ The Act's effective date is July 1, 2021.⁴⁸

The Act

The Act amends the following portions of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated: Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 16, to provide for an expanded definition of hazing; and Chapter 1 of Title 20, to provide for mandatory reporting of hazing-related violations at Georgia schools.⁴⁹ The Act's overall purpose is to reduce hazing-related incidents at the collegiate level by expanding the definition of hazing and imposing mandatory reporting requirements for schools in Georgia.⁵⁰

Section 1

Section 1 titles the Act as the "Max Gruver Act."⁵¹

Section 2

Section 2 of the Act amends Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated by revising Code Section 16-5-61.⁵²

Definitions

Subsection (a) of the Act revises the definitions of (1) hazing, (2) school, (3) school organization, and (4) student.⁵³ Most importantly, the Act broadens the definition of hazing by including any...