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Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hazing can happen in the closest communities. Preventing it is harder than you'd think
Acceptance, rite of passage, and tradition continue fueling the age-old practice of hazing, making it prevalent on collegiate sports teams, among Greek life groups and at the high school level despite state and federal laws. This time, 11 teen varsity lacrosse players from Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York, are accused of plotting or participating in a prank late April – a staged kidnapping that unraveled quickly in what Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick called 'criminal activity' and 'hazing on steroids.' Now, one younger player is traumatized, and the older teammates were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, all while law enforcement officials try to keep up with the fallout as the tight-knit community attempts to make sense of it all. While hazing has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, incidents like the one in Syracuse are reminders of how vague the true scope of hazing nationwide remains and the need for more tangible hazing prevention practices, experts and advocates say. Advocacy groups, sports teams and college websites have their own definitions of what constitutes hazing but the underlying intent of the practice remains the same across the board. Hazing is an activity that 'humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers' an individual seeking to join – or participate in – a group, 'regardless of the person's willingness to participate,' according to advocacy group StopHazing. Hank Nuwer, a professor emeritus at Franklin College and adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has written several books on hazing, estimates there has been at least one hazing death reported in the United States every year from 1959 to 2021. The only year without any reported deaths was 2022, with more reported in 2023, 2024 and so far this year, Nuwer said. Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and the author of 'Preventing Hazing,' said there may be a disconnect between what most people think hazing and rites of passage are, and what students are facing. 'And what's actually happening is a lot more violent,' Lipkins said. Hazing deaths have become 'more hazardous' and are 'spreading in terms of, it's not just White college boys, but it's girls and minorities,' too, Lipkins said. Lipkins said students have told her the patterns and timings of hazing incidents are formulaic in that they occur at the same time of year with the traditions being largely similar but they are increasing in severity each year. More than half of students in the United States are hazed before they enter college, according to a 2008 University of Maine study, which is considered the only one of its kind painting — not a complete— but partial picture of hazing on college campuses. Once those students were in college, 73% of those who joined fraternities and sororities experienced what they described as some form of hazing at least once, the study found. Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation and sex acts were common hazing practices across the different groups in which hazing occurs. Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education at the University of Maine who led the study and is now the director of the StopHazing Research Lab, said a new online survey is expected to be conducted and published in 2026. Allan and her research team hope to gain a deeper understanding of campus culture as they focus on more higher education institutions like historically Black colleges and universities, and include responses from campus staff, including deans of students, coaches, safety officers, Greek life advisers, and others, Allan told CNN. Hazing prevention can't be a one-size-fits-all approach and even getting students to open up about it is challenging, Allan said. So how do you get students to open up about hazing and self-report their experiences for the research? Allan says the key is to not ask directly. 'Instead you ask about certain behaviors,' she said. 'The behaviors would meet the definition, some, not all … some of the behaviors are positive group team-building behaviors that are non-hazing, but there are also many hazing behaviors that would meet the definition of hazing.' Getting students to report hazing is challenging because the practice thrives on the desire to connect with others, belonging, and secrecy through what Lipkins calls 'the code of silence.' When the code of silence is communicated directly, it directs members to remain tight-lipped about the group's activities, and it's also passed through stories of the past that create intimidation to make it clear to the people being hazed that if anything were to be revealed, it would result in trouble, according to Lipkins. For Allan, prevention can be custom-built by focusing on multiple fronts: public health strategies, skill-building techniques, research and of course, education and training as highlighted through a free, online workshop on StopHazing's site. 'It's not really focused on 'thou shall not haze,' it's more, how do we think about the groups we're in and the relationships we have with our teammates or with our fraternity brothers or with our band mates?,' she said. Lipkins, on the other hand, remains skeptical of any effective prevention methods. She said there's a lot of emphasis placed on focusing on student education, when it should really be on the adults and the systems and methods in which the students are educated. 'They (the adults) may write the policy, but in most cases, they're not actually enacting the policies,' she said. 'So I would say we have to start from the superintendent all the way down to any part of the school system, so that the bus driver is reporting … the school resource officer, the athletic trainer, the people cleaning up the mess that the kids are leaving.' Advocates and experts hope new research on hazing coupled with a newly enacted national law requiring colleges to share annual hazing statistics and reports will paint a clearer picture and prevent hazing. In December, former President Joe Biden signed the 'Stop Campus Hazing Act' into legislation, an amendment to The Clery Act, which says colleges must maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to post their hazing policy on its website and share which campus organizations have violated it – giving prospective students and their families a more informed look at groups they're interested in, outline how to report incidents and compile an annual report showing what organizations were found in violation of the school's policy, the act states. Here's a timeline of how the act is expected to be implemented, according to the Clery Center: January 1, 2025: Institutions should begin collecting hazing statistics to include in the annual security report. June 23, 2025: Hazing policies must be in place. July 1, 2025: Institutions must have a process for documenting violations of the institution's standards of conduct relating to hazing. December 23, 2025: The Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which includes the violations that institutions begin documenting in July, must be publicly available. The Campus Hazing Transparency Report must be updated at least two times a year. October 1, 2026: Hazing statistics will first be included in the 2026 annual security report (2025 statistics). At least 44 states have enacted anti-hazing legislation but their scope varies by state, according to data compiled by StopHazing. New Jersey, for example, has one of the strictest hazing laws in the country. Public and non-public middle schools, high schools, and colleges are required to adopt anti-hazing policies and penalties, and the state classifies hazing as a third-degree crime if it results in death or serious bodily injury. Jolayne Houtz wishes more information about hazing incidents at schools was publicly available when her son was in college. Her son, Sam Martinez, died in November 2019 of alcohol poisoning while he was a pledge of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Washington State University, according to the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. 'I worried about things like parties and alcohol and adjusting to life away from home a lot, and I didn't really think about hazing,' Houtz told CNN. 'And Sam paid for that with his life.' Martinez and another pledge were ordered to finish a half-gallon of rum between them, and Martinez's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.372 after his death, almost five times the legal limit, his family previously said in a statement. Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026. In January, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that the university bears responsibility for Martinez's alcohol-related death, marking the first time a university has been held accountable for a hazing-related fatality in the state of Washington, CNN affiliate KING reported at the time. CNN has reached out to Washington State University for comment. When her son said he was interested in joining the fraternity, Houtz said she searched online for information about it and only found positive things. 'All I found were the accolades and the talk about community service and the brand new fraternity house that they had just renovated,' she said. Houtz, who lobbied for state laws against hazing and the Stop Campus Hazing Act, along with others developed a database that lists hazing incidents in the US and said more efforts are needed to make sure families have access to information and prevention tools. 'If I'd known even a 10th of what I learned later, Sam would never have joined that that fraternity and maybe not that university, so I feel like anything that we can do to put data and information into the hands of parents and students will help protect them and prevent another tragedy like the one that we experienced,' Houtz said.
CNN
03-05-2025
- CNN
Hazing can happen in the closest communities. Preventing it is harder than you'd think
Acceptance, rite of passage, and tradition continue fueling the age-old practice of hazing, making it prevalent on collegiate sports teams, among Greek life groups and at the high school level despite state and federal laws. This time, 11 teen varsity lacrosse players from Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York, are accused of plotting or participating in a prank late April – a staged kidnapping that unraveled quickly in what Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick called 'criminal activity' and 'hazing on steroids.' Now, one younger player is traumatized, and the older teammates were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, all while law enforcement officials try to keep up with the fallout as the tight-knit community attempts to make sense of it all. While hazing has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, incidents like the one in Syracuse are reminders of how vague the true scope of hazing nationwide remains and the need for more tangible hazing prevention practices, experts and advocates say. Advocacy groups, sports teams and college websites have their own definitions of what constitutes hazing but the underlying intent of the practice remains the same across the board. Hazing is an activity that 'humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers' an individual seeking to join – or participate in – a group, 'regardless of the person's willingness to participate,' according to advocacy group StopHazing. Hank Nuwer, a professor emeritus at Franklin College and adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has written several books on hazing, estimates there has been at least one hazing death reported in the United States every year from 1959 to 2021. The only year without any reported deaths was 2022, with more reported in 2023, 2024 and so far this year, Nuwer said. Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and the author of 'Preventing Hazing,' said there may be a disconnect between what most people think hazing and rites of passage are, and what students are facing. 'And what's actually happening is a lot more violent,' Lipkins said. Hazing deaths have become 'more hazardous' and are 'spreading in terms of, it's not just White college boys, but it's girls and minorities,' too, Lipkins said. Lipkins said students have told her the patterns and timings of hazing incidents are formulaic in that they occur at the same time of year with the traditions being largely similar but they are increasing in severity each year. More than half of students in the United States are hazed before they enter college, according to a 2008 University of Maine study, which is considered the only one of its kind painting — not a complete— but partial picture of hazing on college campuses. Once those students were in college, 73% of those who joined fraternities and sororities experienced what they described as some form of hazing at least once, the study found. Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation and sex acts were common hazing practices across the different groups in which hazing occurs. Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education at the University of Maine who led the study and is now the director of the StopHazing Research Lab, said a new online survey is expected to be conducted and published in 2026. Allan and her research team hope to gain a deeper understanding of campus culture as they focus on more higher education institutions like historically Black colleges and universities, and include responses from campus staff, including deans of students, coaches, safety officers, Greek life advisers, and others, Allan told CNN. Hazing prevention can't be a one-size-fits-all approach and even getting students to open up about it is challenging, Allan said. So how do you get students to open up about hazing and self-report their experiences for the research? Allan says the key is to not ask directly. 'Instead you ask about certain behaviors,' she said. 'The behaviors would meet the definition, some, not all … some of the behaviors are positive group team-building behaviors that are non-hazing, but there are also many hazing behaviors that would meet the definition of hazing.' Getting students to report hazing is challenging because the practice thrives on the desire to connect with others, belonging, and secrecy through what Lipkins calls 'the code of silence.' When the code of silence is communicated directly, it directs members to remain tight-lipped about the group's activities, and it's also passed through stories of the past that create intimidation to make it clear to the people being hazed that if anything were to be revealed, it would result in trouble, according to Lipkins. For Allan, prevention can be custom-built by focusing on multiple fronts: public health strategies, skill-building techniques, research and of course, education and training as highlighted through a free, online workshop on StopHazing's site. 'It's not really focused on 'thou shall not haze,' it's more, how do we think about the groups we're in and the relationships we have with our teammates or with our fraternity brothers or with our band mates?,' she said. Lipkins, on the other hand, remains skeptical of any effective prevention methods. She said there's a lot of emphasis placed on focusing on student education, when it should really be on the adults and the systems and methods in which the students are educated. 'They (the adults) may write the policy, but in most cases, they're not actually enacting the policies,' she said. 'So I would say we have to start from the superintendent all the way down to any part of the school system, so that the bus driver is reporting … the school resource officer, the athletic trainer, the people cleaning up the mess that the kids are leaving.' Advocates and experts hope new research on hazing coupled with a newly enacted national law requiring colleges to share annual hazing statistics and reports will paint a clearer picture and prevent hazing. In December, former President Joe Biden signed the 'Stop Campus Hazing Act' into legislation, an amendment to The Clery Act, which says colleges must maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to post their hazing policy on its website and share which campus organizations have violated it – giving prospective students and their families a more informed look at groups they're interested in, outline how to report incidents and compile an annual report showing what organizations were found in violation of the school's policy, the act states. Here's a timeline of how the act is expected to be implemented, according to the Clery Center: January 1, 2025: Institutions should begin collecting hazing statistics to include in the annual security report. June 23, 2025: Hazing policies must be in place. July 1, 2025: Institutions must have a process for documenting violations of the institution's standards of conduct relating to hazing. December 23, 2025: The Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which includes the violations that institutions begin documenting in July, must be publicly available. The Campus Hazing Transparency Report must be updated at least two times a year. October 1, 2026: Hazing statistics will first be included in the 2026 annual security report (2025 statistics). At least 44 states have enacted anti-hazing legislation but their scope varies by state, according to data compiled by StopHazing. New Jersey, for example, has one of the strictest hazing laws in the country. Public and non-public middle schools, high schools, and colleges are required to adopt anti-hazing policies and penalties, and the state classifies hazing as a third-degree crime if it results in death or serious bodily injury. Jolayne Houtz wishes more information about hazing incidents at schools was publicly available when her son was in college. Her son, Sam Martinez, died in November 2019 of alcohol poisoning while he was a pledge of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Washington State University, according to the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. 'I worried about things like parties and alcohol and adjusting to life away from home a lot, and I didn't really think about hazing,' Houtz told CNN. 'And Sam paid for that with his life.' Martinez and another pledge were ordered to finish a half-gallon of rum between them, and Martinez's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.372 after his death, almost five times the legal limit, his family previously said in a statement. Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026. In January, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that the university bears responsibility for Martinez's alcohol-related death, marking the first time a university has been held accountable for a hazing-related fatality in the state of Washington, CNN affiliate KING reported at the time. CNN has reached out to Washington State University for comment. When her son said he was interested in joining the fraternity, Houtz said she searched online for information about it and only found positive things. 'All I found were the accolades and the talk about community service and the brand new fraternity house that they had just renovated,' she said. Houtz, who lobbied for state laws against hazing and the Stop Campus Hazing Act, along with others developed a database that lists hazing incidents in the US and said more efforts are needed to make sure families have access to information and prevention tools. 'If I'd known even a 10th of what I learned later, Sam would never have joined that that fraternity and maybe not that university, so I feel like anything that we can do to put data and information into the hands of parents and students will help protect them and prevent another tragedy like the one that we experienced,' Houtz said.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
New York high school lacrosse hazing 'could have been catastrophic': DA
Onondaga County, New York, District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick joined "Fox and Friends" on Thursday to discuss a hazing case by a Syracuse high school lacrosse team that has made national headlines. "If a sheriff's deputy or a state police officer had come upon the scene and saw four armed men all dressed in camouflage and dark clothing abducting a young man, it could have been catastrophic," Fitzpatrick told "Fox and Friends" host Lawrence Jones. Eleven Westhill High School lacrosse players turned themselves in to the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday and will face misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment charges stemming from a heinous act of hazing that allegedly involved kidnapping a younger teammate at gunpoint, putting a pillowcase over his head, binding him up and stuffing him in the trunk of a vehicle. 11 High School Athletes Face Charges In Armed 'Hazing' After Prosecutor's Ultimatum "Weapons could have been drawn, and shots could have been administered to the kids," Fitzpatrick said. "It could have been an absolute disaster." He told "Fox and Friends" that after further investigation, the gun used in the incident appears to have had a bright red or orange tip, and was likely fake. Read On The Fox News App Four of the 11 suspects are 18 years old and will face their charges in local justice courts that handle minor criminal matters, while the others will be subject to proceedings in juvenile courts, according to Fitzpatrick. Ex-northwestern Players Settle Alleged Hazing Suit Lawsuit Against School, Former Coach Pat Fitzgerald: Report However, none will have criminal records after their cases are adjudicated, under a deal the district attorney offered during a stern press conference on Tuesday. If they turn themselves in, Fitzpatrick said during the press conference, they would face the misdemeanor charges. If not, they would all be tried as adults on felony kidnapping charges. "In any event, none of the 11 — if they jump through the hoops that the court mandates — will wind up with criminal records, which I think is fair, despite the idiocy of what they did," Fitzpatrick told Jones. Jones asked Fitzpatrick how the incident had come to his attention in the first place. "Some of these geniuses posted this on social media in some misguided effort to impress their friends, and we monitor that sort of thing," he said. "The sheriff's office became aware of that and then notified my office, and we started an investigation." Westhill Central School District Superintendent Stephen Dunham released a statement Wednesday. "This is an incredibly serious situation, and the District continues to cooperate fully with the District Attorney and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to provide further comment at this time," Durham said. "What I can share, as Superintendent, is that any behavior that endangers the physical safety, mental health or well-being of our students will always be addressed promptly and in accordance with our Code of Conduct. We remain committed to addressing serious issues directly and thoughtfully, and we will make the decisions necessary to uphold the values of our school community."Original article source: New York high school lacrosse hazing 'could have been catastrophic': DA
Fox News
01-05-2025
- Fox News
New York high school lacrosse hazing 'could have been catastrophic': DA
Onondaga County, New York, District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick joined "Fox and Friends" on Thursday to discuss a hazing case by a Syracuse high school lacrosse team that has made national headlines. "If a sheriff's deputy or a state police officer had come upon the scene and saw four armed men all dressed in camouflage and dark clothing abducting a young man, it could have been catastrophic," Fitzpatrick told "Fox and Friends" host Lawrence Jones. Eleven Westhill High School lacrosse players turned themselves in to the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department Wednesday and will face misdemeanor unlawful imprisonment charges stemming from a heinous act of hazing that allegedly involved kidnapping a younger teammate at gunpoint, putting a pillowcase over his head, binding him up and stuffing him in the trunk of a vehicle. "Weapons could have been drawn, and shots could have been administered to the kids," Fitzpatrick said. "It could have been an absolute disaster." He told "Fox and Friends" that after further investigation, the gun used in the incident appears to have had a bright red or orange tip, and was likely fake. Four of the 11 suspects are 18 and will face their charges in local justice courts that handle minor criminal matters, while the others will be subject to proceedings in juvenile courts, according to Fitzpatrick. However, none will have criminal records after their cases are adjudicated, under a deal the district attorney offered during a stern press conference on Tuesday. If they turn themselves in, Fitzpatrick said during the press conference, they would face the misdemeanor charges. If not, they would all be tried as adults on felony kidnapping charges. "In any event, none of the eleven – if they jump through the hoops that the court mandates – will wind up with criminal records, which I think is fair despite the idiocy of what they did," Fitzpatrick told Jones. Jones asked Fitzpatrick how the incident had come to his attention in the first place. "Some of these geniuses posted this on social media in some misguided effort to impress their friends, and we monitor that sort of thing," he said. "The sheriff's office became aware of that and then notified my office, and we started an investigation." Westhill Central School District Superintendent Stephen Dunham released a statement Wednesday. "This is an incredibly serious situation, and the District continues to cooperate fully with the District Attorney and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to provide further comment at this time," Durham said. "What I can share, as Superintendent, is that any behavior that endangers the physical safety, mental health or well-being of our students will always be addressed promptly and in accordance with our Code of Conduct. We remain committed to addressing serious issues directly and thoughtfully, and we will make the decisions necessary to uphold the values of our school community."
CNN
01-05-2025
- CNN
11 Syracuse high schoolers face charges over an alleged team hazing. Here's what we know about the possible punishment
The legal punishments for each of the 11 Syracuse high school students who surrendered for their alleged involvement in the extreme hazing of five younger lacrosse players could vary, legal experts say. The Westhill High School student athletes – who are not being identified due to their age – are accused of staging an armed abduction of younger members of the school's lacrosse team last week in what 'went way beyond hazing,' Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has said. Most of the suspects are minors, but at least one is over the age of 18, Onondaga County First Chief Assistant District Attorney Joseph Coolican told CNN Wednesday. The suspects face misdemeanor charges of unlawful imprisonment, Fitzpatrick said. The students turned themselves in within a day after the district attorney on Tuesday raised the prospect of them facing the more serious charge of felony kidnapping if they didn't do so within 48 hours. But their legal outcomes will all depend on each person's age and culpability, experts said. Under New York state law, more leniency is given in the criminal justice system for those aged 19 and under to be eligible for Youthful Offender Status, which seals their criminal record and gives greater discretion to the punishment they face. The Youthful Offender Status is 'designed to give people aged 16 but younger than 19 sort of a second chance to straighten out their lives,' said David Shapiro, lecturer at the City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 'It's recognition of the state of mind and the comparative development as a person moves from a child to an adult,' Shapiro said. In any case, the 'fairly young age of the offenders would be considered at sentencing,' he added. The non-juvenile students will be arraigned, while the juveniles will proceed to family court, the district attorney said. There are separate legal tracks that could determine the punishment for each suspect, according to CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. In New York, the cases of those under 16 go straight to family court, where the consequences are focused on rehabilitation and diversion initiatives such as community service or educational programs, Jackson said. The judge presiding over the case could decide to send an 18-year-old to the Youth Part of the Supreme Court, according to Jackson, where the suspect would be considered a juvenile delinquent and thus treated more gingerly than an adult in their early 20s. This means they don't face prison time and can receive the same services and programs as a juvenile delinquent, Jackson added. However, there are caveats to obtaining the Youthful Offender Status, as the judge has to look at the nature of their offense, whether they have prior felony convictions or are accused of other violent crimes, which may make them ineligible for that treatment. 'The whole essence of this in New York is you're examining there's a distinction when you're young between rehabilitation and punishment,' Jackson said. For the suspects over the age of 18, Jackson said it's likely defense lawyers will ask for their clients to be given Youth Offender Status 'because it's the more favorable treatment in terms of the sealing of their record and the punishment' as opposed to 'getting slammed as an adult.' The incident, which has stunned the community, began last Thursday when some of the suspects tricked the younger lacrosse players after a game into believing they were going to McDonald's, District Attorney Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. The driver of the vehicle claimed he was lost in a remote part of the southern county in a wooded area when 'accomplices' – dressed in black and wielding what appeared to be at least one handgun and at least one knife – jumped out and pretended to be kidnappers, Fitzpatrick said. While some of the victims managed to escape, one of the students couldn't flee, he said. The group put a pillowcase over that teen's head, tied him up and threw him in the trunk of a car before ditching him in another wooded part of the county, Fitzpatrick said. Before he was eventually returned home, there was a period of time when the younger player thought he was 'going to be abandoned in the middle of nowhere,' the district attorney said. Fitzpatrick said he had seen a videotape of what happened which captured reactions from some of the suspects. 'You can hear that some of the individuals found it amusing.' 'It is not a rite of passage. It is not a trivial matter. I don't know how long this young man will be affected by what happened to him,' Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick did not say whether the apparent gun used was real or fake but asserted: 'We're not going to charge anybody with possession of a weapon.' Westhill Central School District said the rest of the varsity boys' lacrosse season has been canceled. Someone familiar with the reasoning behind the decision told CNN there were concerns that teams would not want to play against Westhill. Westhill School Superintendent Stephen Dunham told CNN in a statement Wednesday that it would not provide further comment about the incident because the investigation is ongoing. However, he wrote: 'What I can share, as Superintendent, is that any behavior that endangers the physical safety, mental health, or well-being of our students will always be addressed promptly and in accordance with our Code of Conduct.' Dunham said the school district remains 'committed to addressing serious issues directly and thoughtfully, and we will make the decisions necessary to uphold the values of our school community.' There are varied levels of culpability depending on the facts and the seriousness of the case, along with the age of those involved, according to Shapiro, the John Jay College lecturer. While the district attorney can make a formal request to keep a case in family court or move it to the Supreme Court's Youth Part, ultimately it's the judge's call, according to the law, Shapiro said. 'Once you put a person in the criminal justice system as a convict or delinquent, there's a great probability that you've lost that person for the rest of his or her life,' Shapiro said. 'The law recognizes that, and they allow judicial discretion to say: 'Some individuals still possess hope. Some individuals have not committed crimes so egregious that we cannot sort of give them leniency.'' The 11 student athletes will be exposed to a legal process that addresses the allegations of law violations with sensitivity to their ages, maturity levels, the seriousness of the offense and the underlying assumption the victims were not seriously harmed, Shapiro said. It's not clear how the case will play out in court, and ultimately the punishment 'has to be consistent with, factually, the charges against you,' according to Jackson, a CNN legal analyst. CNN's Holly Yan contributed to this report.
