Dive Brief:

• An Illinois law that makes hazing a felony has been upheld by a DeKalb County judge.
• The law was challenged as unconstitutional by attorneys for four former fraternity officers in the Northern Illinois University chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha. The four were charged with felony hazing after a student at the university died from drinking too much alcohol at a pledge party.
• Judge John McAdams ruled that the anti-hazing law is not overly broad or too vague, and that “the state has a legitimate interest in providing a safe environment at school,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Dive Insight:

This is a case, and a law, that should end any fraternity initiations in Illinois. Attorneys for the fraternity officers had argued that the hazing law was so broad that it violated due process rights — it says a person can be charged for requiring the performance of “any act” by another as part of an initiation. But the judge said that other language in the law provided adequate context and “sufficient warning to the average citizen,” the Tribune reported. A fifth fraternity officer is also charged, but his case is being heard by a different judge. Other party-goers from the night of the Northern Illinois pledging death were charged with anti-hazing misdemeanors.